lash, n.¹ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

lash n.¹

[SE lash, a whip]

1. (US) a sword.

1602		J. Cooke How A Man May Choose A Good Wife From A Bad Act II: I am expert in the lash.
1791		‘Highway-man’s Flash Song’ in Confessions of Thomas Mount 20: With pops in your pocket, / And lashes in your hand.

2. (Aus.) violence.

1895		Coburg Leader (Vic.) 31 Aug. 1/5: Who was the chap that gave Bunger the lash.
1899		West. Austral. Sun. Times (Perth) 11 June 7/7: The most recent case of nigger-walloping [...] [The] warden at Marble Bar [...] had been judicially dealing out ‘lash’ to some unfortunate nigger-prisoner.
1904		‘Dryblower’ ‘His Quest’ in Sun. Times (Perth) 3 Apr. 4/7: You ain’t goin’ after boodle and yer ain’t goin’ after lash?
1905		Sun. Times (Perth) 5 Feb. 4/7: Battler No. 1 returned looking for lash, stoush and scalps.
1914		C.J. Dennis ‘The Play’ in Bulletin (Sydney) 16 July 47/1: ’e swears ’e’s done wiv lash; ’e’ll chuck it clean. / (Same as I done when I first met Doreen.).
1915		Truth (Sydney) 4 July 6/8: Fighters are wanted at the front, and the average larrikin loves lash [AND].
1916		C.J. Dennis ‘Duck an’ Fowl’ in Moods of Ginger Mick 17: Wiv noise uv tarts, an’ Chows, an’ ducks, an’ lash.
1918		Truth (Sydney) 8 Sept. 3/8: If you are looking for a lash, you can always be accommodated at any football match in which Collingwood is engaged, unless you sport the Collingwood colours, and barrack for the home bunch [AND].
1922		Eve. Post (Wellington) 10 May 3/8: A succession of funny incidents supply him with Stoush and Lash, two vagabonds marked for a return to the stocks.
1932		J. McCarter Pan’s Clan 133: Stoush-artists from other places, who think they can use their mitts and look for lash, come the proverbial gutzers in Longreach [AND].

3. (Aus.) a trick, a swindle.

1989

J. Morton Lowspeak.

4. (Aus./Irish) a try, an attempt; usu. as have a lash (at) ; thus give it a lash, to have a try .

1940		Sentry Go (Keswick) June 5 n.p.: He was making the last ‘lash at the roll’ [AND].
1961		B. Crump Hang On a Minute, Mate (1963) 148: What say we give this Missus Wagner a lash, Jack?
1968		S. Gore Holy Smoke 56: He gives it a bit of a lash, just the same.
1991		R. Doyle Van (1998) 489: GIVE IT A LASH JACK / GIVE IT A LASH JACK / NEVER NEVER NEVER SAY NO / IRELIN’ – IRELIN’.
1992		R.G. Barrett Davo’s Little Something 40: What do you reckon. we give ’em a lash?
1996		Irish Times 20 Apr. n.p.: I will give it a lash, so to speak.
2016		N. Cummins Adventures of the Honey Badger [ebook] We sped back down to the beach for one last lash.

5. the penis.

2001

K. Sampson Outlaws (ms.) 101: Jonah’s got his lash out then Spit’s whipped his out then all kinds are at it.

6. (UK black teen) sexual intercourse.

2004		Dizzee Rascall ‘Hype Talk’ 🎵 But little do dey know he’s only lookin’ for da lash.
2005		Jade LB Keisha the Sket (2021) 21: ‘Dat sexc bwoi ramel iz invitin me 2 his yard 4 a lash’.

lash-man (n.)

(Aus. Und.) a violent thief.

1954

Sun. Mail (Adelaide) 25 Sept. 47/7: Lash-Man: Violent thief.

have a lash (at) (v.) (Aus./N.Z.)

1. to attack, to fight (with); thus lash v. to attack.

1894		A.A. MacInnes Straight as a Line 222: The fighting blood was roused within him, and he longed to have a ‘lash’, as he put it, at the gang.
1900		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 3 Oct. 1/1: When you spot some wealthy ‘gun’ [...] take him on under Haymarket rules and have a willing lash.
1900		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 24 Oct. 1/1: ‘If it [i.e. a newspaper] keeps on lashing it will straighten some of the conrk ’uns up and give fair play a chance’.

2. to take part in, to make a try at.

1937		West. Mail (Perth) 27 May 43/1: I’ve done me dash, and had the lash, so I guess I oughte’r know.
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 42: Lash at, have a, to make an attempt at (something).
1946		A. Marshall ‘Bushman’ in Tell Us About the Turkey, Jo 95: I’ll have a lash at him, runt or not.
1949		R. Park Poor Man’s Orange 222: The old men [...] leaned over rails and exhorted everyone to ’ave a lash.
1953		K. Tennant Joyful Condemned 214: If things get any tougher, I guess I’ll have a lash at it.
1963		‘Nino Culotta’ Gone Fishin’ 25: ’Course if there’s no risk, I’ll have a lash. Who wouldn’t?
1970		(con. 1941) R. Beilby No Medals for Aphrodite 23: Have a lash! Fighting back, no matter how futile that might be.
1982		Aus. Women’s Wkly 15 Sept. 151/2: How it’s over to you to have a lash for cash.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Lash. 2. To put in effort, often in a fight. As in ‘have a lash’.
2003		Rogers & Graaff Beating Par in the Merger Game 45: No, the hole must be played with abandon, as the Irish do, holding nothing back. ‘Have a lash at it, lad — and hope for the best.’.
2015		L. McInerney Glorious Heresies 178: This morning he’d determined to have a final lash of it.

drop the lashes on (v.) (W.I.)

1. to beat severely.

1996

2. to make a surprising, shock decision.

1996