Green’s Dictionary of Slang

baker’s dozen n.¹

13 or occas. 14.

1596		Nashe Have With You to Saffron-Walden in Works III (1883–4) 11: Conioyning with his aforesaid Doctor Brother in eightie eight browne Bakers dozen of Almanackes.
1611		J. Cook Greenes Tu Quoque Scene ix: spend.: What’s yours sir? scat.: Mine’s a Baker’s dozen; master Bubble tel your mony.
1656		R. Fletcher ‘Publique Faith’ Epigrams and Poems 131: This strings the Bakers dozen, christens all The cross-legd hours of time since Adam’s fall.
1660		J. Tatham Rump V i: A Bakers dozen: we’ll fire the odd end first.
1696		Motteux (trans.) Gargantua and Pantagruel (1927) II Bk V 590: We saw a knot of others, about a baker’s dozen in number, tippling under an arbour.
1707		N. Ward Wooden World 95: The Queen [...] is the only Almanack-maker for his Money, who honestly stretches them out to a Baker’s Dozen.
1733		Fielding Don Quixote III vi: I dare swear there were a good round baker’s dozen at least.
1772		Bridges Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 444: The moment that his loving cousin / Awak’d, he saw a baker’s dozen / of Thracians kill’d.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Bakers dozen, fourteen, the number of rolls being allowed to the purchasers of a dozen.
1797		Bridges Burlesque Homer (4th edn) II 250: [as cit. 1772].
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1822		R. Nares Gloss. (1888) I 47: †baker’s dozen: Thirteen. It was originally called a devil’s dozen, and was the number of witches supposed to sit down at table together in their sabbaths. Hence thirteen at table. The baker, who was a very unpopular character in former times, seems to have been substituted for the devil.
1824		W. Scott St Ronan’s Well (1833) 310: As to your lawyer, you get just your guinea’s worth from him—not even so much as the baker’s bargain, thirteen to the dozen.
1830		W. Carleton ‘Battle of the Factions’ Traits and Stories of Irish Peasantry (1868) I 141: Here’s [...] long measure, you savage! – the baker’s dozen, you baste! – there’s five-an’-twenty to the score [...] (crack, whack).
1845		Dublin Eve. Packet 24 May 2/3: A little document signed by not quite a bakers’ dozen [clergymen].
1855		T. Haliburton Nature and Human Nature II 402: He reminded me of a poor fellow [...] who had a family of twelve small children. His wife took a day, and died one fine morning, leaving another youngster to complete the baker’s dozen.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn).
1864		‘Edmund Kirke’ Down in Tennessee 124: Government has made at least a baker’s dozen of the same sort.
1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1877		Sheffield Indep. 15 Nov. 7/5: A bakers’ dozen came out for the Great Shropshire Handicap.
1887		W.T. Call Josh Hayseed in N.Y. 100: It would make a baker’s dozen she’d have in all.
1891		B. Mitford Weird of Deadly Hollow – Tale of the Cape Colony 92: Only three over ‘a baker’s dozen’ in all.
1902		Daily Mail 6 Mar. 4/3: Quite a baker’s dozen of would-be testifiers... to the marvellous story of their ‘cures’ [F&H].
1908		J. Guinan Soggarth Aroon 197: ‘How many children have you?’ [...] ‘The baker’s dozen, your reverence,’ she replied; ‘eight girls and five boys’.

In phrases

give (someone) a baker’s dozen (v.) (also give (someone) thirteen to the dozen)

to give someone a beating.

1842		Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 3 Sept. n.p.: Sullivan [...] seemed rather inclined to give thirteen to the dozen than to take back one .
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 92: To ‘give a man a baker’s dozen,’ in a slang sense, sometimes means to give him an extra good beating or pummelling.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1893		Newcastle Courant 25 Nov. 2/1: To give a man a ‘baker’s dozen,’ in slang phraseology, is to give him a sound drubbing, i.e., all he deserves and one stroke more.