Green’s Dictionary of Slang

stupidity as shown by a group of individuals.

1879

Sporting Times (London) 15 Feb. 3/2: This deputation about music-halls was simply ‘crass assdom’.

1. of sexual intercourse, from the rear.

1909		Joyce letter 8 Dec. to Nora Barnacle, in Ellman Sel. Letters (1975) 184: I am delighted to see that you do like being fucked arseways.
1949		H. Miller Sexus (1969) 58: She was on her hands and knees, begging me to give it to her assways.

2. (US, also ass-to and every whichaway) skew-whiff, back-to-front.

1919		Sketch (London) 107 202/2: There’s the rumour of the raiders who ‘bummed’ London having their compasses rendered all assways by ‘Magnetick currents’.
1934		H. Miller Tropic of Cancer (1963) 93: He stands there with [...] his hat on assways.
1941		H. Miller Wisdom of the Heart 118: That’s civilization — always doing things assways.
1974		(con. 1945) E. Thompson Tattoo (1977) 312: They’re [films] supposed to come rewound, but they come ass-to and every whichaway.
1996		P. Howard The Joy (2015) [ebook] ‘Oh, sorry, I must have got it [i.e. a piece of information] arseways’.
1998		J. O’Connor Salesman 194: If things go arseways and if I have to use this [...] then you’ll have to buy it off me.
2000		F. Mac Anna Cartoon City 52: Hadn’t she invited him herself. Or had the flower shop lady got it arseways?
2021		L. McInerney Rules of Revelation 12: [T]hey’d retreat like politicians after a general election, smiling benignly, walking arseways.

3. head-over-heels.

1922

‘J.H. Ross’ Mint (1955) 55: The barman only shook his bloody apron at him, and he went arse-ways on the fucking floor.

4. (US) rear, as of a pocket.

1947–53

W. Guthrie Seeds of Man (1995) 297: Got it here’n my assways pocket.

1. (S.Afr./US gay) malicious, sarcastic.

1989–2003		R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 assy: bitch, nasty.
1990		J. Naidoo Coolie Location 66: ‘I’ll get you!’ I threatened. ‘You won’t get me nothing, you assy Parker!’.

2. (US black) insignificant, second-rate, unimportant.

2000

Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 assy Definition: in the condition of being a fool/small time Example: Yo, that ugly skank ho o’er dere is assy. I wouldn’t do her for all the Jack Daniels in Tennesee.

3. (US) having large or prominent buttocks.

2013

J. Stahl Happy Mutant Baby Pills 122: They mad-dogged us and then the boy grabbed one of his chiquita’s butt cheeks [...] Nora slid her eyes my way and shrugged. ‘Some guys like ’em assy’.

(US) back-to-front; thus fig., in a mess, chaotic.

[1893		J. Salisbury Gloss. Words S.E. Worcs 13: Assud-backuds, hind before ].
1929		Rabelais All Extant Works: An American Translation 55: I hope you drink so much you tumble over arse-backwards.
c.1930		N. Kimball Amer. Madam (1981) 185: His attitude was ass-backwards.
1937		Hench Collection n.p.: I have heard for years in the speech of less polished persons the word assbackwards as in ‘He put on his pants assbackwards’ [DARE].
1943		(con. 1890s) W.L. McAtee Dial. Grant County (IN) Suppl 2: Ass-backwards [...] Extravagance for backwards.
1952		R. Ellison Invisible Man 137: We’re an assbackward people.
1958		L.F. Cooley Run For Home (1959) 106: He’d probably give it to you all ass-backwards!
1960		(con. WWII) G. Sire Deathmakers 216: He spends the rest of his life running around ass-backwards, until he finally disappears up his own asshole.
1960–75		in DARE.
1966		C. Himes Run Man Run (1969) 94: I do eveything ass backwards, don’t I?
1978		J. Webb Fields of Fire (1980) 27: ‘You in the Marines?’ [...] ‘Nope, not yet.’ [...] ‘Ain’t this kind of ass-backwards?’.
1983		N. Heard House of Slammers 118: That seems a bit ass-backwards, as I see it.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 126: I don’t fly it right side up, upside down, inside out, crosswise, ass backward, or fuck-you otherwise.
1991		D. Simon Homicide (1993) 224: A dozen or more .38-caliber rounds, most of them ass-backwards wadcutters.
1999		‘Punctured Bicycle’ 14 Nov. [email] Most humans on this arse backwards planet will not know what the hell to do with him, others love him intensely.
2002		J. Lerner You Got Nothing Coming 194: I exit the cell ass-backward, crashing into the moo cop who has run up the tier.
2002		M. Rogers [blog] 9 May Anyway, this guy’s done some academic work demonstrating how arse-backwards conservative voting patterns actually are.
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 82: I’d kick myself in the ass, ass backwardz if I didn't attempt to get the goodz, knowin’ that I wanted a piece of the pie.
2016		T. Robinson Rough Trade [ebook] ‘Listen, you got this whole situation ass-backward’.
2017		Twitter 14 May 🌐 There is no way you’re a millennial with that 1950s assbackwards way of thinking.

see bad-ass adj.

totally impoverished.

2008

G. Pelecanos Way Home (2009) 157: Chris and Ben would be ass-broke and back at work at seven in the morning.

1. very deep; usu. in such phrs. as ass deep to a tall moose.

1940		E. O’Brien One Way Ticket 13: Here we are [...] with the wind blowin’ like a bat outa hell and snow ass-deep to a tall Indian.
1956		V. Fisher Pemmican 128: When we invade the Athabasca we’re going to be in trouble ass deep to a moose.
1960		(con. 1950) R. Leckie March to Glory (1962) 192: The snow is ass-deep to a man in a jeep.
1974		D. Widener N.U.K.E.E. 153: Drake was now floundering around the Alaskan wilderness in snow, ass-deep to a tall moose, stuffing thermometers up the butts of wolves.
1983		J.Y. Glimm Flatlanders and Ridgerunners 23: The snow was ass deep to a tall Indian.
2002		M. Evans Madame Millie 147: Snow was ass deep to a giraffe, and the wind was blowing all the way from the North Pole.

2. totally involved with, with an excessive amount of.

1958		E. Gilbert Vice Trap 75: She used to be ass deep in codein [sic] and bennies.
1961		G.L. Coon Meanwhile, Back at the Front (1962) 37: I’m going to be ass-deep in rolling heads before I’m through here.
1972		D. Jenkins Semi-Tough 236: [He] is gonna get himself ass-deep in so much young Scotch that this palatial suite of ours better be able to float.

(US) run-down, worn out.

1971		T. Witmore Memphis-Nam-Sweden 59: That was too much for a bunch of starving, combat-beat-to-the-ass-dragging grunts.
1993		J. Mowry Six Out Seven (1994) 453: Ass-draggin stationwagon, but it kinda give ’em class.

1. head-over-heels.

1967

in DARE questionaire.

2. back-to-front.

1964		Burning Water 2 17: It’s as if all were ass-frontwards.
1972		J. Mekas Movie Jrnl 3: The mutilation of Max Ophuls’ Lola Montes, cut from its original 140 minutes to 90 minutes [...] plus being twisted ass-frontwards in a frantic attempt to make it look like a conventional film.

(US) irritating.

1965

C.D. Bryan P.S. Wilkinson 82: You’ll never even get a cent of your precious ass-grabbing pension!

(US) an unspecified measure of height; usu. as ass-high to a tall Indian.

1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 161: ‘How tall are you, Shorty?’ [...] ‘About ass-high to a tall Indian.’.
1961		J. Hoffenberg Sow Not in Anger 422: I was about ass-high to a three-foot midget, I guess.
1974		T. Kidder Road to Yuba City 265: A forced march over mountains covered with snow that was ‘ass-high to a tall monkey’.
1985		I. Doig English Creek 61: A million dollar rain, ain’t it? Brought the grass up ass-high to a tall Indian.
2006		J. Larimer Pretender Lamb 147: January days when the snow is ‘ass high to a giraffe’.

(US) extremely stupid.

2002

Simon & Burns ‘The Target’ Wire ep. 1 [TV script] What would an ass-ignorant motherfucker like you do with a computer?

1. at the end of one’s tether; beyond effort, without luck (cf. assed out adj. (2)).

1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass out adj 2. out of luck. (‘I’m afraid that you’re just ass out.’).
1999		J. Ridley Everybody Smokes in Hell 131: ‘How you know he ain’t gonna roll?’ ‘He’s ass-out.’.

2. straighforward, easy.

1995

L. Stavsky et al. A2Z 2: ass-out – straight out: The test was ass-out easy.

3. without money.

1997–2001

Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass out adj 1. without money; BROKE. (‘I can’t go to the show tonight, I’m ass out.’).

1. (US) in fig. use, very efficient.

1960

C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 243: I know the Feds are doing an ass-tight job, holding the stuff down.

2. of friends, very intimate.

1967

P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 121: The dozens is a dangerous game even among friends, and many a tooth has been lost between fine, ass-tight amigos.

(US) very unattractive.

1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 121: R.C., your shit is ass-ugly.
1999		M. Haynes Mother of Pearl 135: She must be one ass-ugly woman, you wantin’ to run out so fast and all.
2010		C. Cummings On Being 11: [He] fires you because he didn’t like the comment you made about the ass-ugly chairs he put in my office?
2011		A. Dante La Faiglia Bianco 363: You better dump that fat ass-ugly crazy bitch, kid or no kid.

upside-down, back-to-front.

1953

I. Hamilton Till Human Voices Wake Us 62: A sort of assupwards argument for Pacifism.

(US) a derog. term of abuse.

1985

(con. 1968) D.A. Dye Citadel (1989) 133: Listen, ass-bag.

1. a womanizer, a playboy.

1955		J.W. Ellson I’m Owen Harrison Harding 182: Owen Harding [...] The old reliable ass bandit!
1968		C. Brown Disciple 25: I think she’d like it if I was a big lover and seduced a lot of women, a real ass bandit, you know?
1978		Maledicta II:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 118: He misses [...] ass-bandit, formerly molrower (now obsolete, like so many other vivid sex terms: swive, Athenian, ell, etc.).
1991		T. Kakonis Double Down 181: That line a work you’d be a regular ass bandit. More tail’n you could shake your schwantz at.

2. see arse bandit n.

(US) a grotesquely fat person.

1972

Delillo End Zone 117: That ass-belly sixty-two got his first in.

(US prison) gambling without means of paying back one’s losses.

2000

Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Ass Betting: Gambling without any funds or means of paying back one’s loses.

see separate entries.

(US) the buttocks; the coccyx; thus break one’s assbone v.

[1835		‘John and the Maid’ in Rumcodger’s Coll. in Spedding & Watt (eds) Bawdy Songbooks (2011) IV 265: With his spur up, prick up, he did kick up, / All the stones, to ass bones, she she cried, ‘pray do go on’].
1972		D. Pearce Pier Head 32: Before some other idiot breaks his goddam assbone.
1999		www.sexdrip.com 🌐 [headline] Ram My Assbone Bone My Tight Virgin Ass!!
2001		J. Stahl Plainclothes Naked (2002) 125: Two broken shoulders, half his teeth smashed, and a busted ass-bone.
2002		www.thechraveler.com Jan. 🌐 If you and your buddies were barracho one night and decided to go pool hopping, you’d have about a 50-50 chance of cannonballing blindly into the wrong pool and breaking your assbone.
2009		D. Black Just a Baby 230: If you so much as look at her crooked, my foot bone will unite with your ass bone.
2009		P. Temple Truth 77: He’s on his arsebone in the Bekaa Valley, snorting Cloud Nine.

(US) a male homosexual.

1989–2003		R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐.
2002		gaymen.exyahoo.com 🌐 Access Instantly with Gay MAN Hot Sex! assboy.

1. a difficult, boring or exasperating job, problem or situation.

1962		(con. WWII) J. Jones Thin Red Line (1963) 37: Well, here’s a real ass-breaker. I sure can collect them.
1976		in Rolling Stone 20 May No. 216 n.p.: I did it once. It was ass-breaker. You work yourself to death.
1991		B. Duffy Head Count 152: That’s an ass-breaker for an old man.
2001		W. Lawson Praetorian Condition 268: It’s [i.e. a climb] going to be a goddamn ass-breaker [...] It’s going to be hard.

2. a dive in which the diver lands stomach down on the water, rather than cutting through it.

1966

in DARE.

3. (US prison) a severe, authoritarian guard.

1966

R. Giallombardo Gloss. in Study of a Women’s Prison 200: Ass Breaker. [...] a strict disciplinarian.

4. a thug.

2001

FilmScore Monthly 🌐 In the film, Dingus Magee (Frank Sinatra) is making a living as an ass-breaker when he encounters old acquaintance Herkimer ‘Hoke’ Birdsill (George Kennedy).

5. the penis.

2002

‘Gang Rape’ in Sex, Sex Humor and Sexuality 🌐 ‘Come on Chuckie, get out. She’s had enough of your ass breaker.’ Chuckie slowly withdrew.

(US) a derog. term of address.

1999

S. King Hearts in Atlantis (2000) 446: Suck me sideways, ass-breath.

(US black) an unpopular or unimportant person.

1953		W. Fisher Waiters 65: Once an ass-bucket always an ass-bucket. [Ibid.] 218: Who the hell is this jerk? Just another ass-bucket.
1954		(con. 1920s–30s) J.O. Killens Youngblood (1956) 58: You assbuckets make me sick! Nothing but a bunch of pansies.

(US black) a lazy person.

2000

Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 assbulb Definition: a person or persons who spend their whole time sitting around on their asses. Example: Yo looky at dem assbulbs jus sittin their like no ones biz.

a male homosexual.

1979

Maledicta III:2 231: He also may or may not know the following words and expressions: ass burglar or ass-bandit, ass peddler (hustler) and ass watcher (cruiser).

(US gay) male homosexual prostitution.

1963		in T.I. Rubin Sweet Daddy 8: That was the first time I thought of the bucks in the ass business.
1989–2003		R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass business: prostitution.

see separate entries.

(orig. US milit.) a scolding, a serious reprimand.

1951		V.B. Shaw Nicodemus 132: I had caused him to get a royal ass-chewing.
1955		F.I. Gwaltney Day the Century Ended 226: Grimes said okay to that, gave the new fukup an ass-chewing and forgot about it.
1969		J. Crumley One to Count Cadence 231: He expected push-ups and an ass-chewing.
1974		(con. 1945) E. Thompson Tattoo (1977) 271: The young deck officer wore a raw look that reflected the ass chewing he’d had.
1978		L.K. Truscott IV Dress Gray (1979) 249: The whole squad was down in the dumps, having performed poorly at parade and received a half-hour ass-chewing.
1987		(con. 1967) Bunch & Cole Reckoning for Kings (1989) 135: He was so tired he really didn’t give a damn what kind of ass-chewing he was in for.
1991		B. Hamper Rivethead 193: A major ass-chewing was in order.
2000		F. Lohr in U.S. Army Aviation Museum 🌐 Being pessimists, both Ralph and I mentally prepared ourselves for a first class ass chewing although we couldn’t fathom the possible reasons.

(US campus) an unpleasant, stupid person.

1999		Guardian Guide 25 Sept.–1 Oct. 9: I hate you and I hate your ass face!
2021		T. Pluck Boy from County Hell 189: Because I told you, ass face.

the crease between one’s buttocks.

2003

www.shemale-vids.biz 🌐 It’s cum drenched, ass filled video for all who love the ass-fault highway!

see separate entries.

(US gay) a variety of homosexual practices, including anal intercourse and sado-masochism.

1989–2003

R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass games: 1. to do anal intercourse 2. an act of anal intercourse. ass fucking: an act of anal intercourse, to insert a penis in the anus 3. [SM sl, late 60s] anal erotic practice such as enemas dildos, belts etc.

(US campus) the paper protector that is placed over a lavatory seat to indicate its sanitized state.

1991		J. Mowry Children of the Night 183: He went into the bathroom, snagged an ass-gasket from the dispenser, dropped his jeans and sat down.
1998		www.filmvault.com 🌐 We know that the Swede’s chances of catching tomorrow morning’s edition of The Today Show are about as good as those of an ass gasket in a hurricane.
2001		www.dnalounge.com 3 Apr. 🌐 The various wall fixtures have also been installed: trash cans, and paper towel, toilet paper, and ass-gasket dispensers. (‘Ass gasket’ is the technical term for those round paper discs that you can put on the toilet seat so that you don’t actually have to come in contact with it.).

(US campus) a motorcycle.

1975

G. Underwood ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1/2 55: ass hammer n Motorcycle.

see asshead n.

see separate entries.

see separate entries.

1. (US) a womanizer, a ‘skirt chaser’.

1952		K.C. Lamott Stockade 62: That asshound Fischer won’t make any trouble.
1962		P. Mandel Mainside 52: Officers are all either queer or ass-hounds.
1975		G. Wittman Matter of Intelligence 57: ‘Tell me, is this guy much of an ass-hound?’ ‘No, not at all, on the contrary. I would say he is rather ascetic.’.
1991		R.M. McInerny Body & Soul 41: Corbett [...] had the reputation of being a real ass hound.
2010		R.W. Garcia Valhalla Underground 104: ‘All the excitement has me really needing to bust a nut!’ ‘Goddamn, X! Chill. I didn’t think that you were such an ass hound.’.

2. (US gay) one who enjoys anal intercourse and is primarily sexually attracted by the buttocks.

1989–2003

R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass hound: [...] 2 a male whose favorite part of the anatomy is the ass. 3 a man with an [sic] consuming interest in ass fucking.

see separate entry.

see keister v. (1)

see separate entries.

see separate entries.

an excess.

1936		(con. 1830s–60s) ‘Miles Franklin’ All That Swagger 233: It’s manny an ass-load of foolishness has assailed me ears, and manny the heart-scald since I married ye.
1967		M. Braly On the Yard (2002) 15: You jus’ hold yore cool [...] They got an assload a time out in that cou’troom — all’s you got to do is back up and get it.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass-load n 1. a great quantity. Generally accepted to exceed a butt-load. (‘I just ate an ass-load of tacos!’).
2004		P. Howard PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids 132: She drops this, like, assload of papers in my lap.
2012		L. Talley Under the Autumn Sky 80: Regardless of the assload of trouble he was in, he started walking.

(US) a pornographic magazine.

2005

G. Pelecanos Drama City 135: A couple of ass magazines he used for masturbation.

1. (later use US gay) a male homosexual.

c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: A—se Man. Sodomites. Said also to belong to Captain Jones’ Company. Invaders of the Back settlements.
1971		T. Thackrey Thief 386: I been an ass-man all my natural born life.
1989–2003		R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass man: 1. a man or boy, whose favorite part of the anatomy is the buttocks; anus; rectum. 2. a man with an [sic] consuming interest in doing the sex act.

2. (also arse-man) a man who finds a woman’s buttocks her most alluring feature; occas. ass woman (see cite 2013).

1964		K. Shapiro Bourgeois Poet 51: A drunken poet roars out across the room: are you a tit man or an ass man? I mumble in reply: high cheekbones.
1973		W. Styron In the Clap Shack 6: Are you an ass man or a tit man, Dadario? Me, I’m an ass man. Someday I’m goin’ to find me an ass with a pair of handles. Then I’m goin’ to really operate.
1983		J. Blime Wifey 46: ‘Big breasts aren’t everything,’ Sandy said. ‘Yeah, I’m an ass man myself,’ Bucky said.
1986		Hatfield & Sprecher Mirror, Mirror 9: The question ‘Are you a breast man, a leg, or an ass man?’ attests to Americans’ focus on sexual traits.
1999		N. Cohn Yes We have No 29: Rear View [...] the ass-man’s equivalent to an unperforated penny black.
2008		A. Galt Angel Ass 65: ‘Gordon is an ass man,’ Joyce explained. ‘He’s a leg man too, but most especially he’s an ass man.’.
2010		Ambitious Teenager 103: ‘Is that what you are, Stan? An ass man?’ He smiled condescendingly. ‘That’s right, doll. I’m an ass man and a hip man and a cunt man.’.
2013		F. Bill Donnybrook [ebook] Probably had no ass. [...] No matter, she’d still let him give her a poke or two. She wasn’t an ass woman no way.

3. a pimp.

1963

T.I. Rubin Sweet Daddy 32: So I’m an ass man – so that means I gotta diploma in straightening out the queers or something?

4. a successful seducer, a womanizer.

1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS 72: Ass man A socially adept person [...] A sexually attractive person, male. A sexually expert male.
1970		(con. 1950s) H. Junker ‘The Fifties’ in Eisen Age of Rock 2 (1970) 103: After a date they would ask, especially if he had a rep as a hot ticket, an ass man [...] Get much?
1980		in R. Sokolov Wayward Reporter 45: Robert Fistere was [...] ‘a very tough New Yorker [...] an assman and a drinker.’.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 26: ass man. One who is successful (sexually) with women; a Don Juan.

(US campus) a general term of abuse.

1997–2000

Da Bomb 🌐 ass-master (n) {offensive} Jerk, idiot; term for someone you don’t like. [University of Delaware, Newark, DE].

(US) a term of abuse; also as a term of address.

1994		Spin Jan. 73/1: Beavis and Butt-head have invented their own language, and you have to admire how they’ve invented it out of scraps like ‘ass-munch,’ ‘waste of buttwipe,’ ‘change it,’ and ‘someday, Beavis, you’re gonna have urges like me’.
1997		Spin Dec. 56: Forget bunghole, ass-munch; beaver, LSD, masturbation, and marijuana, it’s Beavis’s mantra of ‘fire, fire’ that sets activists aflame.
2005		A. Lane Vulnerable 207: ‘That’s a month, ass-munch.’ She spat, ‘And you don’t really give a shit about how I know, do you?’.
2010		J. Boyer Plaid Avenger’s World 512: As one of the most egregious violators of human rights in recent memory, Pol Pot easily earned the Plaid Avenger title of ‘Ass-munch of the Decade’ for the 1970s.

(US campus) a time-waster.

1967–8

Baker et al. CUSS 72: Ass-off A person who always fools around.

(US prison) an inmate who has neither advantages nor respect.

2000

Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Ass Out: A prisoner who has does not have anything coming or who has disrespected officers to the point where they do not give him anything.

(US) a small pouch-like bag strapped around the wearer’s waist.

1953		L. Uris Battle Cry (1964) 118: The ass pack [...] is rigged so it hangs [...] level with a man’s backside.
1987		(con. 1967) Bunch & Cole Reckoning for Kings (1989) 184: Blind Pig reached behind and pulled something from the top of his asspack. He handed Casey’s Thorpe bowie knife to Mosby, who [...] shoved the knife into his buttpack.
1998		N.Y. Mag. 27 July n.p.: You can hop, skip, and jump with this CD player strapped into your ass pack and your music won’t hop, skip, or jump.
2002		USMCWeapons.com 🌐 I would encourage Marines working in boat teams, hitting the beach [...] or crossing rivers and large streams, to use this as an additional safety device, stowing it in the ass pack once that danger is past.

(US) anyone who sells their body as a prostitute, male or female.

1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 13: ass peddler A prostitute; a whore.
1979		Maledicta III:2 231: He also may or may not know the following words and expressions: ass burglar or ass-bandit, ass peddler (hustler) and ass watcher (cruiser).
1989–2003		R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass peddler: a prostitute, of either sex.
1994		P. Baker Blood Posse 369: The winos, junkies, ass-peddlers, and petty hustlers were still there.

a male homosexual; note adj. use in cit. 2004.

1989–2003		R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐.
1997–2000		College Sl. Research Project (Cal. Poly., Pomona) 🌐 ass pirate (n) {offensive} Gay male. That guy has to be an ass pirate. [University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN, 1998].
2004		Harvard Indep. 14 Oct. 🌐 Anal play can and should (at least once) be part of a tender loving relationship. Or an ass-pirating one-night stand, whichever comes first.

(US) beans.

1968

in DARE.

(Aus./US) a male homosexual prostitute.

1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 22: homosexual (n.): One with a sexual attraction for those of the same sex who practices sex exclusively with those of the same sex. Related terms: [...] aspro.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 111: a male prostitute [...] ass pro.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 145: Special terms not much known outside male prostitute circles include aspro.
1989–2003		R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass pro: a male prostitute, a hustler that is known for getting fucked.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 116: An aspro was a term for a male prostitute derived from arse pro (arse prostitute).
2010		W. Ings ‘Trolling the Beat to Working the Soob’ in Int’l Jrnl Lexicog. 23:1 68: [A]n aspro described a male prostitute who worked the beats.
2019		P. Baker Fabulosa 288/2: aspro, aspra a prostitute.

(US) the anus in the context of intercourse.

2022

J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 25: [He] grabbed her by the shoulders, fucked her ass pussy silly, and granted her parole.

(US gay) one whose primary area of sexual interest is the buttocks.

1989–2003

R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass queen: someone that is attracted to asses.

1. a male homosexual.

1989–2003

R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 ass raider: 1. [1980s] term for homosexual man, used in gay bashing. 2. in anal intercourse the man who fucks, as opposed to the one who is being fucked.

2. the active partner in anal intercourse.

1989–2003

see sense 1.

(US) a homosexual.

2006

G. Pelecanos Night Gardener 33: You sayin Littleton’s an ass ranger?

1. (US campus) a difficult course or examination.

1967–8

Baker et al. CUSS.

2. (US) a dive in which a swimmer jumps, holds his nose and hits the water buttocks-first; the aim – and the result – is to make a big splash.

1965–8

in DARE.

1. a loafer, an idler.

1935		W. Faulkner Pylon 66: And you can thank whatever tutelary ass-scratcher you consider president over the fate [...] of that office.
2000		cybergames.com 🌐 Bite me, you baboon-faced ass-scratcher!

2. something that makes one think; thus ass-scratching adj., thoughtful, cleverly executed.

1976		P. Conroy The Great Santini (1977) 287: That was dog-doo defense. Now let’s do that again. Same four. I wanna see some ass-scratching defense this time.
1998		G. Derian posting at Do-It-Yourself Electronic Fuel Injection 22 Oct. 🌐 I thought of this but the juxtaposition of the parts involved seems to preclude that solution for me....like I’ve said b-4 this is a real ass scratcher.

(US) a sycophant, a toady.

1943		(con. 1890s) W.L. McAtee Dial. Grant County (IN) Supplement 2: Ass-sucker [...] bootlicker, toady.
1967		in DARE.
1975		Joe McKennon Horse dung trail 220: Only people that call me Mister are ass suckers and stool pigeons.
1991		B. Hamper Rivethead (1992) 88: Some horn-rimmed fella who had ass sucker stamped all over his giant forehead.
2001		South Park ep. 306 [TV script] stan: Aw, Dude! Get me out of here! cartman: I think Sexual Harrassment Panda is cool! stan: You would think that, you little ass sucker! cartman: What did you call me? stan: An ass sucker! It means you suck ass!
2002		ACLU Online Community 10 Feb. 🌐 Hey DickCheese? I’m supposed to CARE that you know these people? Or should I be impressed? Or is this just your way of sucking up? Should I [...] surmise you have a BIG preference for sitting around with chocolate on your nose? Ya fucking sniveling ass sucker. Get out!

(US) something amusing.

1972

D. Jenkins Semi-Tough 14: Old Billy Clyde’s salary is up there in big figures now, and if you lump three years together, it’s a real ass-tickler.

(gay) one who walks the streets looking for a potential sexual partner.

1979

Maledicta III:2 231: He also may or may not know the following words and expressions: ass burglar or ass-bandit, ass peddler (hustler) and ass watcher (cruiser).

(US) a thrashing, a beating.

1967		W. Crawford Gresham’s War 178: You men knock off this cheap shit or get ready for an absolute ass-waxing [HDAS].
2001		Cougfan.com 18 Oct. 🌐 Now this game has ‘major upset’ written all over it [...] Ah, who am I fooling? Look for an ass-waxing of Westwoodian proportions for this one.
2001		www.z92.com 18 Jan. 🌐 Mike’s a big Vikings fan like Todd so the two consoled each other about the Viking’s recent ass waxing.

see separate entries.

see separate entries.

in confusion; back-to-front; upside down; thus defeated.

1967		in DARE questionaire.
1968		G. Cuomo Among Thieves 376: It looked to Mel like they were just ass-end up and that was it, sad movies.
1997		in Mother Jones July–Aug. 🌐 People talking about politics usually start from the ass end backwards in that they think you have a political agenda, and then you make your work fit that cookie cutter.

(US) in confusion.

1942		(con. 1890s) W.L. McAtee Dial. Grant County (IN) Supplement 1 n.p.: Ass end foremost [...] backwards [DARE].
1950, 1965		in DARE.

drunk.

2003

Drunktionary 🌐 Ass backwards – Confused. From the phrase’s sense of ‘in a confused manner.’ Ass on backwards.

(US) head-over-heels (cf. end over appetite under end n.).

1937		H. Fergusson Life of Riley 235: I notice in nearly every cowboy picture they have some horse go ass over appetite.
1942		R.L. Bellem ‘Cooked!’ Dan Turner - Hollywood Detective Jan. 🌐 Dr. Lambert had fallen neck-over-appetite in love with a cute little bleached-blonde extra.
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 218: The king [...] bounded one short confident step forward, pitched himself ass over appetite, beaned himself beautifully on the table’s edge and crushed flat, shoulders shaking.
1970		Scanlan’s Mag. 1 70: How could a stupid fish [...] suddenly grab you, pull you through the water, lift you up in the air [...] then toss you ass over appetite back into the sea?
1981		N.P. Roth Brave Men All 180: He knocked me ass over appetite across a couple of cots and out the tent flap.
1992		V. Randolph Blow the Candle Out 804: [note] Ass over appetite means no more than head-over-heels, as in the sentence ‘Bill slipped on the top step, and fell ass over appetite’.
2004		D. Castell Cowboy and a Kiss 175: He felt himself fly ass-over-appetite into the air and land butt first in the dirt, jarring every bone in his body.

head-over-heels, in confusion.

1969

in DARE.

(US) extremely crowded.

1998

(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 60: The place was ass-to-elbow, humid all year round, and always smelled like something between piss and perspiration.

(US) hard at work.

2006

(con. 1972) Jurgenson & Cea Circle of Six 53: [A]ll solid cops already asses-and-elbows into all of the BLA’s players.

(US) to be fawningly subservient to (someone); to ‘kiss (someone’s) ass’.

2005

J. Salazar Legion of the Lost 95: ‘Galeski? He has his head up the lieutenant’s ass because he’s up for promotion to chef himself’.

(US) nagging.

1967		C. Cooper Jr Farm (1968) 84: The headnurse Miss Harvey, she’s always in yer ass about somethin.
1973		E. Bunker No Beast So Fierce 46: Selam’s gonna be in my ass for being gone so long.

(US campus) to a very great extent, extremely, completely, usu. ref. to drunkenness.

1989		P. Munro Sl. U. 141: My roommate was wasted off his ass by the time the party was over.
1999		Eble Campus Sl. Nov. 8: off one’s ass – excessively drunk.
2001		‘Randy Everhard’ Tattoo of a Naked Lady 18: He was drunk off his ass.
2008		R. Price Lush Life 127: I was scared [...] I was off-my-ass drunk too .

1. (orig. US) facing serious problems, esp. financial ones.

c.1917		in S. Dunne Cork Anthology (1993) 406: For they takes us out to Blarney, they lays us on the grass: / They puts us in the family way and leaves us on our ass .
1935		E. Hemingway letter 4 June in Baker Sel. Letters (1981) 413: He is on his ass in Havana having won a gigantic competition which the last revolution buggered up (we lost) so never paid.
1956		J. Blake letter 3 Aug. in Joint (1972) 83: A month or so out of jail, broke and on my ass.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Mama Black Widow 13: Mike is back in town on his bare ass.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 166: They love it when you on yo’ ass.
1982		H. Beaton Outside In Act II: Start foolin’ around with traffic and you’ll be right back on your arse! In the digger!
1990		(con. 1930s–60s) H. Huncke Guilty of Everything (1998) 269: I became partially involved with the Times Square scene again but not in as beat a way as before, not as much on my ass.
2005		B. Hare Urban Grimshaw 20: I was on my arse and had little choice but to go back into some form of social work.
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 20: Coke-addled Dougie as on his arse and desperately needed funds.
2011		D.R. Pollock Devil All the Time 96: ‘I got enough people on my ass as it is’.

2. (US campus ) ill, sick.

1967–8

Baker et al. CUSS 72: Ass, on your Have a minor illness, feel sick.

(US) in hot pursuit (of someone); persecuting or harassing someone; thus the opposite off someone’s ass; see also get (on) someone’s ass ; cit. 1950 is simply pron. of ‘ass’

1948		(con. 1944) N. Mailer Naked and Dead 439: Croft’s been on my ass the whole time.
1950		S. Murphy Stone Mad (1966) 184: Why, man, she’s like a cat with kittens until I fork out the wages. Then if I’m short she’s on me house immediately, an’ I get a long sermon on the duties of a father to his children.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Mama Black Widow 1674: Grampy’s on his ass.
1972		Hall & Adelman Gentleman of Leisure 111: I don’t want to work either. But if Silky finds out I didn’t, he’ll be over on my ass.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 149: Norwalk was on Rutledge’s ass already.
1983		N. Proffitt Gardens of Stone (1985) 161: You’d think Flanagan would have done it just to keep Sergeant Hazard off his ass.
1989		P. Munro Sl. U.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 200: I’m on his spic ass.
1997		C. Hiaasen Lucky You 184: The chief judge had been on Arthur Battenkill’s ass about clearing the case backlog.
1999		J. Ridley Love Is a Racket 337: Duntphy must have been on my ass all day, watching, waiting.
2001		(con. 1975–6) E. Little Steel Toes 66: George [has] a running start of ten feet before we are right on his ass.
2016		T. Robinson Rough Trade [ebook] ‘Sorry. I’m cold as hell and Tommy is in my ass’.

(US) at the nadir of one’s fortunes.

1973		P. Maas Serpico 167: I’m on the balls of my ass, man.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 29: He’s on the balls of his ass.

(orig. US) ejected unceremoniously, thrown out.

1956		‘James Updyke’ [W.R. Burnett] It’s Always Four O’Clock 130: ‘[W]e are out on our asses as of Saturday night’.
1966		(con. 1958) R. Farina Been Down So Long (1972) 59: They threw me out [...] Out out on my ass, bump down the stairs.
1970		San Diego Sailor 75: The bitch [...] will have found a new subject to work on and the kid’s out on his ass.
1970		A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 160: If I’d followed him to the letter I’d have been out on my arse in no time.
1982		A. Maupin Further Tales of the City (1984) 188: She’d better report to me on Friday or she’s out on her ass.
2000		N. Griffiths Grits 100: If it wuz me, now, ad av yer out on yewer fuckin arse arftyer a week, no, a fuckin dey.

(US) excessively.

1987		Eble Campus Sl. Fall 6: out the ass – in large quantities: I have mid-terms out the ass this week. Also up the shit, out the butt, up the bazooka.
1998		D. Jenkins Rude Behavior 210: ‘Man, we’re snowed under. [...] We’ve had drive-bys out the ass, all over town. Seven dead, sixteen wounded’.
1999		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 5: out the ass – excessive quantities: ‘They had pizza out the ass at the party’. [Ibid.] Nov. 8: out the butt – in an extreme amount or manner.
2004		letter by US serviceman, dated 13 July in Guardian G2 5 Oct. 2: We are spending money out the ass for this shit.

(US) to excess, in large amounts; also adv.

1972		L. Bangs in Psychotic Reactions (1988) 113: That is so fucked up it’s got class up the ass.
1978		T. O’Brien Going After Cacciato (1980) 245: Screwed and skewered [...] Cops up the ass.
1981		E. Bunker Little Boy Blue (1995) 283: Morphine, dilaudid, pantopon ... goofballs and uppers up the ass.
2002		C. Stella Jimmy Bench-Press 2: He’s supposed to be mortgaged up the ass.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 12: I was up-the-ass antsy.

1. to an extreme extent.

1865		in T.P. Lowry Stories the Soldiers Wouldn’t Tell (1994) 36: [He wrote to George about the weather] ‘mud up to a mans ass hear’.
1974		G.V. Higgins Cogan’s Trade (1975) 11: You’re gonna be flying and you’re gonna go in stoned up to your ass.

2. (also up to one’s butt) totally involved in, overwhelmed by.

1950		R. Starnes And When She Was Bad 122: ‘I can prove that you were in that house. Prove, d’ya understand? You are up to your butt in trouble and you don’t have sense enough to know it’.
1963		M. Braly Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 107: ‘We’re cutting out.’ [...] ‘Heat. And crap. We’re up to our ass in it here. In New York they’re civilized.’.
1967		L. Bruce Essential Lenny Bruce 61: I’m up to my ass in crutches and wheelchairs.
1976		R. Price Blood Brothers 17: These guys are all prob’ly up to their asses in mortgages.
1978		D. DeLillo Running Dog (1992) 140: He’s up to his ass in it. And it’s climbing fast.

(US) in very serious troubles, facing overwhelming problems.

1978		W. Diehl Sharky’s Machine 194: Like you say, we’re up to our asses in alligators anyway.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 96: We’re up to our ass in alligators.
2001		‘Irregular Ramblings’ at www.skaro.com 24 Aug. 🌐 But anyone can be serene when things are going their way, right? Being able to maintain a polite demeanor whilst up to one’s ass in alligators is indeed the test of it.

see under hair n.

(US) a general phr. of greeting.

1937		S. Anderson Winesburg I ii: How’s your ass, Jim.
1966		(con. 1958) R. Farina Been Down So Long (1972) 18: Give me the Victorian for ‘how’s your ass, ace?’.
1979		B. Gutcheon New Girls (1982) 312: You get past all that trivial bullshit – how’s your work, how’s your ass.

(orig. US) of a man, having an active sex life or conspicuous sexual prowess; usu. as he gets... or he has...

1974		G.V. Higgins Cogan’s Trade (1975) 69: Guy gets more ass’n a toilet seat.
2002		L. Fike TV show about Elvis and Memphis Mafia 14 Aug. [BBC1 TV] We were getting more ass than a toilet seat.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 61: ‘I heard he gets more ass than a toilet seat’.
2024		C. Stella Joey Piss Pot 90: ‘That guys gets more tail than a toilet seat’.

(orig. US) one is in severe trouble.

1965		‘A New Dictionary of Army Language’ in Yeah mag. No. 10 n.p.: your ass is grassed (and I’m the lawnmower): you have had it (lawnmower optional, in disrepute).
1970		G. Scott-Heron Vulture (1996) 10: If he ketch you, yo’ ass iz grass.
1989		Kirk & Madsen After The Ball 132: Sid – whose ass will soon be grass – pirouettes to the bar.
1995		R. Campbell Wizard of La-La Land (1999) 208: I start yelling a fucking faggot rapist is trying to pull my joint under the fucking table, your ass’s going to be grass.
2001		‘Randy Everhard’ Tattoo of a Naked Lady 38: If Peanut caught me, my ass was grass.
2013		Eminem ‘Groundhog Day’ 🎵 So mow the fucking lawn, your asses are blades of grass.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 156: ‘Your camel-fucking ass is grass’.

(US) one is in danger, one’s reputation has been destroyed.

1961		R. Gover One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding 42: I so scared my ass gonna be mud, time I git back downstairs.
c.1990		M. Walsh Oberman, the Footnote 🌐 It’s time to play hardball, Oberman, and you’re either in or you’re out. You ice Snow White or your ass is mud.
1999		‘Chuck’ Lakin University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and the Arizona Historical Society Oral Hist. Programs 29 Apr. 🌐 ‘What the hell’s going on here?’ He said, ‘Buddy, your ass is mud’ and he explained briefly what happened.

1. (also one’s ass sucks blue mud) one is talking (hysterical) nonsense; esp. as a threat, your ass will suck wind when/unless...

1965		H. Rhodes Chosen Few (1966) 73: We don’t tolerate fuckoff’s here ... your ass will suck wind before this day is over.
1976		H. Selby Jr Demon (1979) 15: Aaaahhhh bullshit, waving at Harry with disgust [...] You ass sucks wind.
1977		Maledicta 1 (Summer) 14: If he is particularly ignorant or foolish, and proves it by talking loudly or a lot about things [...] his ass is sucking blue mud.

2. (also one’s ass sucks putty, one’s butthole sucks wind) one is very angry or disgusted.

1973		J. Yount Trapper’s Last Shot (1974) 81: Let’s get this over with. This place makes my ass suck putty.
1998		J. Lansdale Rumble Tumble 34: It might make my supervisor’s butt hole suck wind, but I’ve got some more vacation time coming.

see kick someone’s ass

see separate entry.

(US) to nag, to harass.

2024

D. Swierczynski California Bear 40: I had to go take care of something [...] [o]therwise the wife would be up my ass all day.”.

see under bust v.¹

see under bust v.¹

see bust someone’s ass under bust v.¹

to be completely incompetent, with overtones of stupidity or intoxication.

1933		May, tale #50 recorded in V. Randolph Pissing in the Snow (1976) 76: He was just a big country boy, all pecker and feet, the kind of a fellow that couldn't find his butt with both hands in broad daylight.
[1939		New Yorker 4 Nov. 26: They were so dumb they couldn’t find their nose with both hands].
1943		H.A. Smith Life in a Putty Knife Factory 196: ‘He knows all about Freud, but otherwise he’s so dumb he couldn't find his butt with both hands’.
1948		W.C. Fields in Cerf Shake Well Before Using n.p.: ‘That fellow is so dumb he can’t find his backside with both hands’.
[1949		J. Berry The Hills of Home 10: When describing how drunk or how dumb anyone was, he would invariably say, 'Aye, a shame it is, and he couldn't find his behind with both hands right now.'".
[1951		Mirror News (Los Angeles, CA) 12 Feb. 25/3: ‘Ozarkians will understand when I say Harry [S. Truman] couldn’t find his backside with both hands’.
1955		J. Keene Texas Pistol 57: ‘Old Iron Pants can't find his ass with both hands and he knows it’.
1958		A. Budrys ‘Falling Torch’ in Venture Science Fiction Jan. 24: ‘Hammil’s a clown. If he didn’t have me and Ladislas, he couldn’t find his tail with both hands’.
[1958		Life 27 Jan. 106: ‘[T]his one kid from our block who we know can't find his bottom with both hands in the dark’].
1966		L.B. Johnson in Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS) 7 Aug. F3/6: ‘He can’t find his butt with both hands,’ snorted the President of the United States].
[1971		W.D. Jennings Cowboys 118: The Old Woman sniffed at the sky and said, ‘It so dark you can't find your nose with both hands’].
1988		M.D. Harrell Night of the Ranger 290: ‘[Y]ou come back and trip over me because you can’t find your fucking ass with both hands’.
1993		D.J.H. Jones Murder at the MLA 99: Boaz chose not to inform Malley [...] that the correct phrase, which is Ozarkan, is ‘couldn’t find his butt with both hands in broad daylight’.
2005		McGraw Hill Dict. Amer. Idioms 74/2: can’t find one’s butt with both hands (in broad daylight) Sl. is stupid or incompetent [...] Why did they put Jim in charge? He can’t find his butt with both hands!
2015		C. Cromwell Note 175: ‘[I]f you can't find him now you probably couldn’t find your ass with both hands’.
2023		F. Bill Back to the Dirt 161: ‘[S]ome nights we’re so busy we can’t find our asses with both hands’.

(US/W.I., Bdos/Trin.) to leave, to run off.

1971–2

C. Shafer ‘Catheads [...] and Cho-Cho Sticks’ in Abernethy Bounty of Texas (1990) 200: ‘Carry your ass!’ v. – ‘Go away!’.

to beat someone.

1999

E. Bunker Mr Blue 367: He had certainly carried my clumsy ass on the handball court more than once.

(US) to annoy, to irritate.

1961		M. Terry Old Liberty (1962) 7: It kind of chapped my rear, if you know what I mean.
1968		(con. WWII) D. Westheimer Song of the Young Sentry (1969) 143: ‘Because you’re so damn fatheaded it chaps my ass,’ Moran said.
1996		M.G. Williams homepage 21 June 🌐 Someone stole my pizza at work. Now, I suppose this could be minor. I mean, after all, it’s only food. It’s only a few bucks. There are bigger problems in this world. However, it really just chapped my ass that someone would blatantly steal an entire 2/3 of a huge pizza.
2001		M. Jones 25 Nov. [email] Keep fighting the good fight. Like you, it has always chapped my ass when a big company steamrollers a little guy with legal fees and legalese. Good luck.

(US) to subject to pressure.

1986

C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 214: They’re climbing up my ass already on the rape-homicide thing [...] and so far I don’t see diddly on that one.

(US) to criticize severely, to punish heavily; thus ass-eating n.

1942		R. Chandler High Window (1964) 425: Too late to mention it now. They’d eat my ass off.
1947		(con. 1944) J.H. Burns Gallery (1948) 334: Ya ain’t ate out nobody’s arse except Dimplepuss? Ya ain’t give none of us a bad time.
1952		J. Jones From Here to Eternity (1998) 856: He grabbed a BAR and clip bag for himself [...] making a mental note to eat Malleaux’s ass out.
1953		J. Thompson Alcoholics (1993) 30: Not that Rufus hadn’t deserved an A-1 ass-eating.
1966		‘Tom Pendleton’ Iron Orchard (1967) 48: Cap Brunner would make no mention of the error other than giving Pucketts a private ‘ass-eating’.
1972		D. Jenkins Semi-Tough 20: Eat his ass up is all you’re gonna do.
1987		(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 19: I’d get right in a guy’s face when I ate his ass.
2000		D. Reese Sailor Boy 184: Jim should remember, the man had eat his ass out enough times that he could never forget.
2002		J. Jones Ice-Cream Headache 34: There may be some bad effects. I may even get an ass-eating.

1. to move one’s buttocks in an exaggerated manner with the deliberate intention of attracting one’s audience sexually; usu. of homosexuals.

1983

R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].

2. to move, to walk.

1991

(con. 1920s) O.D. Brooks Legs 31: If you’re that goddamn hungry, fan your ass into the bush and rustle up some firewood while I wash a pan to fry the ham and eggs.

(US) to cause trouble for, to attack, to ‘do for’.

1951		Kerouac On the Road (The Orig. Scroll) (2007) 170: Tell that Texas sonofabitch if my brother ain’t out of jail tomorrow night he’s going to get his ass fixed.
1952		(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 359: I fixed Wengel’s ass good.
1969		C. Brown Life and Loves of Mr Jiveass Nigger (2008) 89: When he was finished with her he was gonna fix her ass like it was never fixed before.
1973		B. Conn in Heller In This Corner (1974) 225: He says [...] ‘You had to get fresh. I fixed your ass for you.’.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 57: I’ll fix your Jew ass.
1995		J. Webb Sense of Honor 225: Let’s fix his ass. Tonight.
2004		V. McGlothlin Every Sistah Wants It 291: This is between me and Isaiah, and I’m gonna make sure I fix his ass once and for all.

(US black) to fight; to beat up.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 239: get deep in (one’s) ass 1. Fight. 2. Beat severely.

1. (US) to annoy, to irritate.

1959		C. Himes Crazy Kill 12: He keeps putting himself in my face no matter how hard I [...] show him I ain’t interested.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 53: He’s working an extradition gig with a Vegas cop, and he gets in the guy’s face in the worst possible way.

2. (US black) to hit.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 105: A number of terms for fighting warn the opponent [...] just where he can expect a fist or knuckle to fall – [...] figuratively if not literally get in or bust one’s ass.

to be overcome; to be beaten severely.

1997		T. Fontana ‘A Game of Checkers’ Oz ser. 1 ep. 8 [TV script] We love to root for the underdog [...] when one team is getting their assed handed to them and they’re headed to the locker room, we say a silent prayer.
2011		J.J. DeCeglie Drawing Dead [ebook] I made a desperate play. I had to. I was getting my ass handed to me.
2016		T. Robinson Rough Trade [ebook] I also knew enough martial arts to recognize that I knew just enough martial arts to get my ass handed to me by someone who knew what they were doing.
2020		S.A. Crosby Blacktop Wasteland 94: ‘Them good ol’ boys always telling us to get over slavery, but they can’t get over having their ass handed to them by Sherman’.

(US) to get into difficulties, esp. in a criminal context.

[1926		‘Criminal Argot’ AS LVII:4 (1982) 261: crack. Tight place].
1948		H. McCoy Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in Four Novels (1983) 224: It was the same on both sides of the track. A tail in a crack was a tail in a crack.
1952		H. McCoy Corruption City 88: Never mind your professional prestige [...] We’ve got our tails in a crack.
1967		E. Shepard Doom Pussy 59: The friendlies have their ass in a crack.
1970		‘Red’ Rudensky Gonif 109: I pitied any gonif who got his tail in their [i.e. the police] trap now.
1983		(con. 1970) S. Wright Meditations in Green (1985) 196: My mother told me I’d regret coming over here. She said I’d get my ass in a crack like this and praying wouldn’t help.
1989		Hackworth & Sherman About Face (1991) 30: My ass was in the worst crack ever.
2000		G.V. Higgins At End of Day (2001) 151: He got his tail caught in the crack, because he fucked up on some other little piss-ant job.

see under uproar n.

see under sling n.²

see under gear n.

(US) to become haughty, angry or excited but with no proper cause, to put on airs.

1954		(con. 1920s–30s) J.O. Killens Youngblood (1956) 135: All them Harlem negroes got their ass on their shoulders. Think they better than the colored down here. [Ibid.] 182: If anybody think they white, it’s you [...] Come back here with your nose in the air and your ass on your shoulder.
1961		N.C. Folklore 9-14 40/1: Has his ass on his shoulder [is angry].
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 240: ‘Since you you got your ass way up on your back, Mister Bastid, you can at least give us cab fare’.
1978		W. Brown Tragic Magic 43: Girls never dug her either. They always thought she had her ass on her shoulders.
1987		(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 133: That veteran is jacked up. His ass is right up next to his shoulders when we talk.
1988		(con. 1930s) C.E. Lincoln The Avenue, Clayton City (1996) 9: Don’t get your ass up on your shoulders just ’cause you’re shit-colored.
2001		Busta Rhymes ‘Ass on your Shoulders’ 🎵 on Genesis [album] Actin’ too good for niggas with your ass on your shoulders / But now you’ll be fuckin’ a nigga till he fall in a coma.

(US) to lose one’s temper.

1953

J. Thompson Criminal (1993) 53: Always tossing weight around and getting nothing but his ass out of joint.

(US) to annoy, to irritate, to infuriate.

1884		in D. Ahearn Forts of Upper Missouri 289: I guess he got his a— up because I did not address him as Col .
1972		J. Wambaugh Blue Knight 96: I’m always the first one to get my ass up when the brass tries to restrict my freedom.

see under head n.

1. to pressurize, to harass, to nag.

1930		J.T. Farrell ‘Jo-Jo’ in Short Stories (1937) 143: The old lady is sure gettin’ on my tail pretty hard. She threatens to kick me out.
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 286: Wait till the cops get on her ass, leavin the kids alone like that.
1977		J. Langone Life at the Bottom 53: Like I’ve always had a tough time bending when someone gets on my ass.
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 200: I knew Robin was going to get on my ass.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 260: If he gets on Speaker’s ass, let me know immediately.
2002		Simon & Burns ‘Old Cases’ Wire ser. 1 ep. 4 [TV script] Tell Bodey we’re on his ass.

2. to annoy.

1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 101: Shut up, youse guys. You get on me arsh.
1967		T.C. Bambara ‘Talking Bout Sonny’ in Gorilla, My Love (1972) 83: Women get on my ass. Truly.

see get out of someone’s face under face n.

(US black) to assault.

1999

J. Ridley Love Is a Racket 416: I’, ’bout to be up in yo ass with some serious shit, muthafucka!

(US) to infuriate, to annoy.

2013

T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] ‘[T]his cloak and dagger bullshit you’re feeding me is going right up my ass’.

1. (US) to dismiss from employment.

2020

(con. 1991-94) W. Boyle City of Margins 190: ‘You’re gonna get fired. Sechiano’s gonna hand you your ass’.

2. to beat up, to assault; thus n. ass-handing, a beating.

2023		F. Bill Back to the Dirt 11: [I]f he got caught handing Kimball his ass he could lose his job.
2023		F. Bill Back to the Dirt 100: ‘[Y]ou still got a good ass handing coming down from me again, you swindler’.

to run a risk, to risk one’s life (cf. have one’s ass hanging (out) ).

1967		E. Shepard Doom Pussy 65: You’re a mighty snazzy chicken to be hanging your fanny out coverin’ this cockeyed hassle.
1994		(ref. to c.1967) L. Cleveland Dark Laughter 63: Other songs joked about ‘hanging out your ass’ on dangerous missions.

(US) to defeat thoroughly, to trounce.

1961		G.L. Coon Meanwhile, Back at the Front (1962) 177: We sure hung their asses, didn’t we?
1962		H. Simmons Man Walking On Eggshells 247: Man, if this nigger was a white man I’d hang his ass.

1. to be in a bad temper.

1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 14: Sometime Moran the cop would get a bug up his ass and grab me.
1995		(con. 1985–90) P. Bourjois In Search of Respect 102: I think he had a roach up his ass, ’cause it’s slow. He was pissed off ’cause the electrician from Con Ed [...] didn’t show up.
2010		(con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 281: Somebody stopped over last night and put a bug up my ass.

2. to be obsessed.