glaze, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

glaze n.

[SE glaze, a vitreous composition used for glazing pottery etc.]

1. (also glaise, glazy) a window; thus on the glaze, robbing jewellers’ shops after smashing the windows; mill a glaze, to smash a window.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Glaze c. the Window.
1703		Hell Upon Earth 5: Glaze, a Window.
1708		Memoirs of John Hall (1714) 12: Glaze, a Window.
1718		C. Hitchin Regulator 19: The Glaise, alias Window.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1753		J. Poulter Discoveries (1774) 43: Undub the Jeger and jump the glaze.
1768		(con. 1710–25) Tyburn Chronicle II in Groom (1999) xxvi: The Glaze The Window.
1781		G. Parker View of Society II 137: Glaze is cant for glass.
c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions .
1791		‘Flash Lang.’ in Confessions of Thomas Mount 19: Open a glaze, going in at a window.
1807		H. Tufts Autobiog. (1930) 293: Glaze . . . a square of glass.
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 88: Glaze — windows; and, ‘to mill the glaze,’ the miller may adopt a stick, or othwerwise, as seems most convenient.
1828		High Life in London 27 Jan. 2/2: ‘[A]s to Mister Kendall’s story about smashing his glaze in the skylight, I knows nothen about it whatsumds ever’.
1830		Egan Finish to the Adventures of Tom and Jerry (1889) 82: [facing pic. caption] A random shot milling the glaze.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 73: I piped a donna vot vas dossing next pad from us vith lucifer cove and the mud-penciller (crossing sweeper) I pipes her stall to the glaze, and flashed her prat over the sill, and lagged on the pave.
1846		Bell’s Life in Sydney 29 Aug. 2/5: He deposed that he did nor confine him for smashing the glaze; asked the defendant to go home.
1852		Kendal Mercury 3 Apr. 6/2: Billy [...] minds ye dosent blab to mother about Joey pricking the vicker for a dolphin (stealing bread from a basket) ven doughy (the baker) was piping (looking) through the glaze (window) at the pictures.
1852		Kendal Mercury 3 Apr. 6/2: The old moll vas piping us through the glazy (window).
1859		Matsell Vocabulum 37: glaze Break the glass. ‘I say, Bill, you mill the glaze, and I’ll touch the swag and mizzle,’ I say, Bill, you break the glass, and I will steal the goods and run away.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 88/1: Upon coming opposite the yard, Bill walked from among the cattle and planted his burden alongside the ‘glaze’ in the yard.
1875		T. Frost Circus Life and Circus Celebrities 278: Going round the assemblage with a hat, to collect the largesses of the on-lookers, is ‘doing a nob,’ and to do this at the windows of a street, sometimes done by one performer standing on the shoulders of another, is ‘nobbing the glazes’.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 4: Glaze, a window.
1889		Ally Sloper’s Half-Holiday 4 May n.p.: Getting a reprieve he went to Dublin on the glaze [F&H].
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 32: Glaze, a window.
1901		Argus (Melbourne) 20 Sept. 6/4: He may strike the jigger, or if his specialty be windows then fly the glaze, which means raise it or star the glaze, or milk [sic] the glaze which means break it .

2. (US Und.) a bottle.

1791

‘Flash Lang.’ in Confessions of Thomas Mount 19: A bottle, a glaze.

3. a mirror; thus as v., to place a mirror behind oneself.

1781		G. Parker View of Society II 169: Whenever you are at the Broads you are sure to be worked, [...] by glazing (that is putting a looking-glass behind you).
1821		W.T. Moncrieff Tom and Jerry III ii: Oh, there’s some mystery in the infernal mirror [...] I’m going to mill the glaze.

4. a lantern.

c.1800		‘The Frolicsome Spark’ No. 31 Papers of Francis Place (1819) n.p.: If I don’t mill your glaze damn my eyes, thus smauch went his stick at the lamp.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 125/2: Mill the Glaze, breaking windows or lamps.

In phrases

snap the glaze (v.)

(UK Und.) to smash shop windows.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.

spank the glaze (v.) (also spank a glaze) [spank v.¹ (1) ]

1. (UK Und.) to break a shop window, reach in and grab whatever one can reach, having previously tied up the shop door so the shopkeeper cannot pursue.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 267: spank to spank a glaze, is to break a pane of glass in a shop window, and make a sudden snatch at some article of value within your reach, having previously tied the shop-door with a strong cord on the outside, so as to prevent the shopman from getting out, till you have had full time to escape with your booty; to spank a place, is to rob it upon the spank.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1839		H. Brandon Dict. of the Flash or Cant Lang. 163/1: Spank the glaze – breaking a window with a fist.
1857		‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue.

2. (UK Und.) a more elaborate version of sense 1.

1870

Rochdale Obs. 24 Dec. 6/2: ‘Spanking the glaze,’ [...] is effected by two thieves, a well-dressed one and a shabbily attired [one] who pretends to be intoxicated, runs against his ‘swell’ companion and [...] they manage to break the bottom square of glass in a shop window [...] The ‘swell’ insists on a policeman being sent for and pays for the broken window. But a watch is placed on the shop in order to ascertain when the window is repaired, and this having been done, the putty being soft, can be easily removed.

star the glaze (v.) [SE star, to make a star-shaped crack or hole ]

1. (also star (a glaze), star it) to break shop windows for the purpose of theft.

1777		J. Fielding Thieving Detected 40: Starring the Glaze [...] The method of acting is to cut a square piece of glass out of a window or shop-board, big enough to take what is wanted.
1781		G. Parker View of Society II 137: Star the Glaze. A term for cracking a Jeweller’s show-glass, which when cracked forms a star.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn).
1799		‘Cant Lang. of Thieves’ Monthly Mag. 7 Jan. n.p.: Starring the glaze Cutting Shop-windows.
1807		H. Tufts Autobiog. (1930) 293: To star a glaze signifies to cut out a square of glass.
1812		Vaux Memoirs in McLachlan (1964) 82: Lest the reader should be unprovided with a cant dictionary, I shall briefly explain in succession: viz., starring [...] Cutting a hole in a pane of glass, without noise, in order to rob the window of something before determined on.
1816		Morn. Post (London) 20 July 4/1: Two men [...] were willing to ‘star the glaze,’ (in other words, cut a pane of glass, for the purpose of removing something from a shop-window).
1828		Morn. Chron. (London) 4 Oct. 3/5: One of the city constables swore positively that he saw the prisoner Simpson ‘star the glaze’.
1833		Bath Chron. 11 July 4/3: The old thieves teach the boys how to ‘star the glaze’.
1843		Morn. Chron. (London) 7 Nov. 8/2: The policeman said he found nothing on the prisoner but a sharp pointed knife [...] used by thieves to ‘star the glaze’.
1844		N.Y. Herald 3 Jan. 2/6: ‘STARRING IT.’ – This is a term that [is] a flash term among thieves and burglars. The fancy store of Pelegrino F. Franchesi, of 299 Broadway, was ‘starred’ on New Year’s night by burglars, who cut out a pane of glass with a diamond, and thus obtained entrance.
1853		Bell’s Life in Sydney 30 July 2/7: They both then commenced smashing the windows until the police arrived and stopped their playful amusement of ‘starring the glaze’.
1857		Morn. Chron. (London) 15 Dec. 3/5: Four men [...] charged with being concerned in an attempt to rob the shop of Mr Wells, a jeweller [by] ‘starring the glaze’.
1859		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 101: star the glaze to break the window or show glass of a jeweller or other tradesman, and take any valuable articles, and run away. Sometimes the glass is cut with a diamond, and a strip of leather fastened to the piece of glass cut out to keep it from falling in and making a noise. Another plan is to cut the sash.
c.1863		glossary in Occurence Book of York River Lockup in Seal (1999) 37: I starred the glaze and snammed 16 redge yacks. My joiner [? jomer] stalled.
1869		J. Greenwood Seven Curses of London 87: Breaking a square of glass – starring the glaze.
1870		(con. 1800s) Leeds Times 7 May 6/6: In Vaux’s pockets were found [...] a thief’s knife for ‘starring the glaze’ and a pair of silver spectacles for disguise.
1877		Diprose Laugh and Learn 72: So, in fractional arithmetic, it is considered highly improper to ‘star the glaze,’ in falling through the sashes of a grapery, when on the look-out for grapes.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 4: Starring the Glaze - Breaking a window quietly by means of a diamond or, a nail.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 32: ‘[T]o star the glaze,’ to break a window.
1901		Argus (Melbourne) 20 Sept. 6/4: He may strike the jigger, or if his specialty be windows then fly the glaze, which means raise it or star the glaze, or milk the glaze which means break it .
1935		R.T. Hopkins Life and Death at the Old Bailey 64: The burglar cuts a circle in a glass-window [...] he prevents it from falling and raising the alarm by pressing the plaster over the window. This is called ‘starring the glaze’.

2. to hit in the eye.

1822

‘A Modern Mill’ in Egan Anecdotes of the Turf, the Chase etc. (1827) 220: Next he starred magog’s glaze, and well scuttled his nob.

3. to break any window.

1839		H. Brandon Dict. of the Flash or Cant Lang. 163/1: Star the glaze – breaking the window quietly by means of a diamond or nail.
1858		A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 352: Shall we star the glaze and see what the inside’s like?
1888		D.V. Lucas Aus. and Homeward 334: Some of their slang may be interesting [...] breaking a square of glass, starring the glaze.

4. (US) to vandalize plate glass by scratching it with a glazier’s diamond.

1840

Morning Herald (N.Y.) 15 Jan. 2/5: ‘Starring the Glaze’ — This operation consists of taking a [glazier’s] diamond [...], and putting it [...] across some of those splendid panes of plate glass which decorate the modernized dry goods store.