Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to stop; esp. as excl. cheese it! stop it!

1811		Lex. Balatronicum n.p.: Cheese it, the coves are fly; be silent, the people understand our discourse.
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 272: When a person advances any assertion which his auditor believes to be false, or spoken in jest, or wishes the former to recant, the latter will say, stow that, if you please, or, cheese that; meaning don’t say so, or that’s out of the question.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 49: Chise-it [...] means ‘give over’.
1827		Pierce Egan’s Life in London 18 Mar. 893/2: It was unanimously determined to cheese it. That is [...] ‘to cut it!’.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 50: ‘Nanty, nanty, cullies,’ said Slippery Sal, the Oakley-street stunner; ‘cheese it. Send I may live! but Fuzzy’s a tramp, and no flies.’.
1859		G.A. Sala Gaslight and Daylight 328: Two or three ‘hallos!’ and ‘now thens!’ accompanied by a strong recommendation to cheese it (i.e., act of cessation) causes these trifling annoyances to cease.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 22/2: I told him to ‘cheese it,’ for that I had got a nice young woman to attend to, and that if she overheard him it would sure ‘crab’ on me.
1872		‘Mark Twain’ Innocents at Home 336: Cheese it, pard.
1879		G.G. Hart E.C.B. Susan Jane 9: Here comes the captain; ‘cheese it, boys!’.
1881		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 10 Dec. 8: [pic. caption] ‘Cheese It!, I’m Sleepy!’.
1888		‘’Arry on Marriage’ Punch 29 Sept. 156/1: ‘Wot, is Marriage a failure?’ I chuckles. ‘Oh, cheese it, old feller!’ sez Bob .
1891		F.W. Carew Autobiog. of a Gipsey 410: Come, cheese your patter, Jem, and let’s get to business.
1893		S. Crane Maggie, a Girl of the Streets (2001) 5: Cheese it, Jimmie, cheese it! Here comes yer fader.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 16: Cheese it, be silent; stop it.
1898		W. Pett Ridge Mord Em’ly 65: ‘Cheese it!’ cried Mord Em’ly.
1904		G.B. Shaw John Bull’s Other Island Act III: Ow, chack it, Paddy. Cheese it.
1910		B. Fisher Mutt & Jeff 28 Dec. [synd. strip] Aw, dog, for the love of Mike, use some discretion. Cheese it!
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 18 Sept. 5/3: You haven’t got dimples, K, so cheese it [i.e. smiling].
1918		‘Sapper’ Human Touch 80: Cheese it, guv’nor; I’ve got to live, ain’t I?
1919		W.H. Downing Digger Dialects 16: to cheeze it — to cease.
1920		T.A. Dorgan Indoor Sports 12 Aug. [synd. cartoon] Cheese it Joe — Everybodys hep now.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 405: O, cheese it! Shut his blurry Dutch oven with a firm hand.
1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 52: Cheese It: Stop it. That’s enough.
1933		M. Marshall Tramp-Royal on the Toby 28: Look here, chum, I won’t cheese it.
1940		M. Marples Public School Slang 40: cheese. Five distinct school slang uses of this somewhat puzzling word are recorded: (1) Cheese it=Stop it; first recorded 1811.
1941		F. Swados House of Fury (1959) 62: As they passed a dog began to howl. ‘Cheese it!’.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1955		B. Appel Tough Guy [ebook] Joey noticed the bull slipping in on them through the crowd of men. ‘Cheese it!’ he hissed in warning.
1960		E. North Nobody Stops Me 146: ‘Cheese it,’ Burber said.
1961		Mad mag. Sept. 17: Cheez-it, the cops!
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 187: cheese it: a warning to be careful because someone in authority is coming.

2. be quiet!

1821		Egan Life in London (1869) 383: Logic [...] whispered something in Hawthorn’s ear, observing to him, at the same time, ‘to cheese it!’.
1827		Pierce Egan’s Life in London 18 Mar. 894/1: The prisoner said ‘cheese it’ (be quiet).
1873		J. O’Connor Wanderings of a Vagabond 268: ‘Blarney!’ ‘Too much chaff!’ ‘Cheese it!’ ‘Stash it, Govey, ole boy, an’ let’s try the Major’s champagne,’ roared half a dozen at once.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. see sense 1.
1896		Ade Artie (1963) 32: Chee-e-ese it! You know what I mean.
1904		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 28 Sept. 2/4: ‘Cheese it, doctor!’ huskily replied the bookmaker. ‘Don’t reduce that swellin’ more'n you can ’elp’.
1908		Gem 17 Oct. 2: Oh, cheese it!
1914		C. Holme Lonely Plough (1931) 163: Oh, cheese it, Stubbs!
1922		Joyce Ulysses 405: The colleen bawn, the colleen bawn. O, cheese it!
1938		W. Watson Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (2000) 127: ‘Cheese it,’ said Tony.
1948		C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident 136: ‘Ow, cheese it,’ interrupted the Wart.
1958		Willans & Searle Complete Molesworth (1985) 354: Cheese it, Molesworth.
1961		J. Kirkwood There Must Be a Pony! 188: My mother gave them the ‘Cheese it, the kid!’ sign, and they clammed up.
1977		(con. 1911) J. Monaghan Schoolboy, Cowboy, Mexican Spy 141: ‘Cheese it!’ a nearby voice whispered to me [...] ‘That’s Pancho Villa!’.

3. (UK Und.) be off! run away!

1833		Bell’s Life in London 7 Apr. 3/1: Cries of ‘Cheese it!’ alias ‘Cut it’ alias ‘Bolt!’ burst from all quarters.
1864		Times 7 Dec. n.p.: He heard one of the men call out ‘Cheese it, cheese it,’ which a policeman said meant make off [F&H].
1899		R. Whiteing No. 5 John Street 222: Cheese it, an’ slide.
1908		‘O. Henry’ ‘The Easter of the Soul’ in Voice of the City (1915) 154: The onlookers unselfishly gave the warning cry of ‘Cheese it – the cop!’.
1910		Magnet 27 Aug. 7: I’ll come. Cheese it now!
1911		T.A. Dorgan Silk Hat Harry’s Divorce Suit 15 Aug. [synd. cartoon strip] Cheese it. Boys make your getaway. I found a chick.
1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 52: Cheese it: [...] Used also as the schoolboys’ ‘Cavé’, i.e., ‘Look out!’.
1934		H. Roth Call It Sleep (1977) 277: Cheesit, Augie! [...] He’s after us!
1947		(con. 1870s) F. Weitenkampf Manhattan Kaleidoscope 83: ‘Cheese it, the cop’ was the boy’s warning of the approach of a policeman, not infrequently uttered by them to give themselves the feeling of being engaged in an illegal activity which really did not exist.
1956		‘Toney Betts’ Across the Board 60: I did not holler ‘Cheeze it, the cops,’ he protested indignantly, I said ‘Gentlemen, the police is here’.
1960		Wodehouse Jeeves in the Offing 75: Cheese it, the cops!