highstrikes, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

highstrikes n.

[mispron.]

hysterics.

1799		J.T. Allingham Fortune’s Frolic I:iii: Dol. Lady Roughead! How it sounds! — Ha! ha! ha! (Laughs immoderately.) Rob. ’Gad, I believe she’s going into a high strike.
1820		T. Hudson ‘Romeo and juliet’ in Comic Songs 31: Nurse with shrieks & shrikes, endeavour'dfor to wake her, / Ma’ went in high strikes — Pa’ sent for the Undertaker.
1834		W.A. Caruthers Kentuckian in N.Y. 27: I strained ’em down, till an old woman would have sworn I had the high-strikes, with a knot o’ wind in my guzzle.
1838		C. Selby Jacques Strop II iv: Capital! Ha, ha, ha! didnt I do the highstrikes famously?
1845		J.J. Hooper Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs (1851) 87: Old Mrs. Rollins [...] and her two daughters had what Simon termed the ‘high-strikes’.
1851		Bell’s Life in Sydney 5 July 4/2: Chaffing Joe boasted that ho could slang a cab-man into high-strikes before the waterman could bite his name in a pot of hot purl.
1854		Gallipolis Jrnl 19 Oct. 1/7: The girls were in high-strikes when they saw the approach of poor old dad.
1860		T. Haliburton Season Ticket 245: Then, from shame, passion, and excitement, off he went into highstrikes.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1879		Vancouver Indep. 3 Apr. 7/2: She had a genuine fit of what the maiden aunt called ‘stericks’, and the chambermaid ’highstrikes’.
1882		Bristol Magpie 14 Dec. 14/2: I fancy it would be a strong case of ‘high strikes’ and smelling salts.
1891		Princeton Union (MN) 3 Sept. 3/3: Jane was in highstrikes.
1894		Truth (Sydney) 28 Oct. 1/2: The Missis [...] nearly ’ad ’ighstrikes.
1898		H. Macfall Wooings of Jezebel Pettyfer 93: I isn’t goin’ to bustle round and git de high-strikes on account of my man runnin’ arter anudder woman.
1899		‘Pot’ & ‘Swears’ Scarlet City 33: Miss MacWashington has been suffering from the highstrikes.
1909		Colfax Gaz. (WA) 4 June 5/2: Cluckers [i.e. hens] that get the ‘high strikes’ trample and mistreat their chicks.
1925		‘Bartimeus’ ‘Great Security’ in Great Security 50: He [...] was apprehensive of a scene. High-strikes even; you never knew. The girl Mabel worked with was a terror for high-strikes.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks n.p.: High strikes, excitable; easily confused.
1946		J. Cary Moonlight (1995) 265: ‘I’m not laughing,’ said Amanda, laughing and crying at once. ‘I’m s-sorry, Harry. Yes, I suppose it is highstrikes.’.