pound, n.³ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

pound n.³

[an era when the pound sterling equalled $5]

1. (US) money, esp. $1 or $5.

[1908		K. McGaffey Sorrows of a Show Girl Ch. xx: He wanted to bet an Englishman, on the other side of the hall, $5 – Bly me, I mean a pound, that [etc.]].
1929		M. Prenner ‘Sl. Terms for Money’ in AS IV:5 358: To a taxi driver it [five dollars] is a pound.
1931		D. Runyon ‘A Nice Price’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 191: Ordinarily Liverlips will not bet a pound that he is alive.
1936		Archie Seale Man About Harlem 5 Sept. [synd. col.] ‘A pound and change’ [...] means five dollars or five and change .
1943		Pittsburgh Courier (PA) 27 Feb.20/1: The management refused to add an extra pound rto the twenty-two smackers they were receiving.
1955		Q. Reynolds Police Headquarters (1956) 135: ‘A double saw?’ Phillips looked at the stoolie coldly. ‘That isn’t worth more than a pound.’.
a.1964		‘Dumbo the Junkie’ in D. Wepman et al. Life (1976) 90: Here’s a pound, Dumbo, don’t pay me back.
1971		J.D. Horan Blue Messiah 204: ‘Give him a pound.’ The other reluctantly handed over the five dollar bill.
1989		L. Block Out on the Cutting Edge 48: A coat, in police parlance, is a hundred dollars. A hat is twenty-five. A pound is five. The terms took hold years ago, when [...] British currency pegged higher.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 169: ‘Me voy, Smush, dame chavo.’ ‘How much?’ ‘A pound.’ Winston took the five-dollar bill from Fariq, and said his goodbyes.

2. (US Und.) a five-year sentence.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 162/2: Pound. [...] 2. (P) Five years’ imprisonment.
1967		C. Cooper Jr Farm (1968) 135: After you do almost a pound here, like me, you get so you can stand it.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 41: ‘Manslaughter in the first degree with a ceiling of five.’ ‘A pound — that’s too much.’.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 21: Nickel A five-year prison sentence. In prison, the number of years of sentences are often referred to as monetary coin amounts. (Archaic: fin, handful, pound).
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] ‘Convicted felon in possession of a concealed firearm. That’s a pound zip-bit right there.’ Five-year minimum sentence.

3. (US) $500.

2012

(con. 1971) M.F. Armstrong They Wished They Were Honest 93: PHILLIPS: Here’s a pound, right? RATNOFF: A pound, that’s five hundred dollars.

pound nasty (n.)

(Scots) very cheap cider, drunk by alcoholics.

2020

G. Armstrong Young Team 12: These cunts drank bottle ae pound nasty, pure gut-rot dry cider that cost a quid each.

pound note

see separate entries.

pounds to peanuts (adv.)

(Aus./UK) for sure, certainly.

1900		A.H. Lewis ‘Hamilton Finnerty’s Heart’ in Sandburrs 65: ‘Now ’ere’s a luvely mess!’ said London Bill [...] It’s punds t’ peanuts, th’ loidy’s aboard th’ bowt.
1974		D. Ireland Burn 5: She’s gettin’ it all right. Pounds to peanuts. There’ll be no babies here, I hope. But she’s gettin’ it.
1995		P. Harding Woman of Africa 100: I’d lay pounds to peanuts that [...] when some ‘fat cat’ needs a new Mercedes or something, a certain proportion of the ‘legit’ rhino horns in government possession also find their way onto the [...] black market.
2009		T. Phipps Doll in the Wall 149: Pounds to peanuts says that Albert will never get that personal bit of insight out of him.
2016		G. MacGregor Case for Trust [ebook] I’ll bet you pounds to peanuts there'll be an imbalance.