warm, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

warm v.

1. to thrash, to beat; esp. in descriptive combs., such as warm someone’s arse/warm someone’s jacket v., to thrash; thus warming n., a beating, warmer, a blow (from a whip).

[1590		Three Lords and Three Ladies of London J 4: Now now, haue I beaten his lips? haue I warm’d his nose?].
c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: To Warm, or Give a Man a Warming; to Beat him.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) .
1806		G. Colman Yngr John Bull IV i: They had like to ha’ warm’d I.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1788].
1812		Spirit of Irish Wit 140: An Irish gardener, seeing a boy stealing some fruit, swore [...] he’d lock him up in the ice-house and warm his jacket.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1830		W.T. Moncrieff Heart of London II i: Let him take care he doesn’t get a warming.
1853		‘Cuthbert Bede’ Adventures of Mr Verdant Green (1982) I 7: So he warms him too; and we go on all jolly.
1859		Wkly Varieties (Boston, MA) 3 Sept. 3/4: Deserving of the Lash [...] Sentence — to be stripped naked and made to run round the Common under the coaxing influence of a constant succeesion [sic] of warmers.
1866		H.L. Williams N.-Y. After Dark 29: If I don’t warm her sassy chops, I ain’t called ‘Roughy’ for nothing.
1874		M. Clarke Term of His Natural Life (1897) 273: You can’t get ’em to warm one another [...] They won’t do it.
1883		T.B. Reed Willoughby Captains (1887) 31: ‘I’ll warm you, Parson, when I get hold of you’.
1881		Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 15 June 2/2: McLean read a poem about a boy on ship that wouldn’t go home for fear his dad would warm him.
1887		Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Oct. 8/2: Some youthful, gushing, savage who ought to have been warmed by his mother with a fishing-line, cast his eye on a maiden [...] and then [...] proceeded to cut poetry about her on a rock by means of an axe.
1891		Bird o’ Freedom (Sydney) 7 Feb. 2/1: Visitor: ‘Isn’t your mother afraid, Willie, of catching cold in those slippers?’ Willie: ‘Huh, I guess you don't know them slippers! Ma uses them to warm the whole family with’.
1899		Boy’s Own Paper 12 Aug. 729: Why, he’s the chap that warms us when we’re cool.
1901		Boys Of The Empire 30 Apr. 50: You shall see how I take the next warming.
1901		Boy’s Own Paper 9 Feb. 290: The Dutch fellows were arrant thieves, and now the Scotch were going to warm them.
1907		C. M’Govern By Bolo and Krag 32: ‘Whew!’ I exclaims [...] ‘My, but wasn’t that a hide-warming!’.
1913		A. Irvine My Lady of the Chimney Corner 61: The penny saved me from a ‘warming.’.
1929		T. Wolfe Look Homeward, Angel (1930) 299: If they were mine I’d warm their little tails.
1931		E. Blair ‘Hop-Picking Diary’ 2–19 Sept. in Complete Works X (1998) 221: ‘Go on, Rose, you lazy little cat, pick them ’ops up, I’ll warm your arse if I get to you’ etc.
1939		H.E. Bates My Uncle Silas 10: If you weren’t so old I’d warm your breeches till you couldn’t sit down.
1983		A. Payne ‘Senior Citizen Caine’ in Minder [TV script] 48: Don’t go ape, just warm his cockles up a bit.

2. to infect with venereal disease.

1834

‘The Bilk’ in Randy Songster in Spedding & Watt (eds) I 208: So though she paddled through the streets to ease the man’s desire, / She kept a place about her full as hot as any fire / [...] / You think you’ve done me very nice, but that I could not hinder, / But, though I’ve cool’d your courage, I’ve warm’d you for the winter.

3. to abuse, to scold.

1873		Sl. Dict. 336: Warm [...] to rate or abuse roundly. Also varied, as, ‘to make it hot’ for any one.
1884		Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday 14 June 51/2: [He] not unfrequently finds it politic to take his boots off on the door-mat [...] lest Mrs Heavyman should wake up and ‘warm’ him.

In phrases

warm someone’s behind (v.)

see under behind n.

warm someone’s ear (v.)

1. (Ulster, also warm someone’s lug) to hit someone across the ear; usu. in unexecuted threat, I’ll warm your ear (for you!).

1883		G.W. Peck Peck’s Bad Boy and His Pa (1893) 297: Ma’s mother used to warm her ears.
1948		J. O’Connor Come Day – Go Day (1984) 28: I’ve a good mind to warm your lug for you, boy.
1997		Share Slanguage.

2. (US) to chatter and gossip incessantly.

1920		Ade Hand-made Fables 313: [He] would sit alongside of him and begin to warm his Ear with important Dope.
1938		D. Runyon ‘Pick the Winner’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 317: I can see by the way Hot Horse Herbie is warming his ear that Herbie figures him to have a few potatoes.

warm someone’s hide (v.)

to thrash, to beat.

1843		T. Haliburton Sam Slick in England I 245: I’ll jist warm his hide a bit for him, to make his blood sarculate.
1887		G. Davis Recoll. Sea-Wanderer 39: You may thank your stars that Captain Sellars came on deck in time, or I'd have warmed your hide for you.
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 98: Don’t you be so gay or I’ll warm your hide good.
1909		W. de Morgan It Can Never Happen Again 267: Jim made concession to the Young Varmint — went so far as to say that he would not warm his hide for him this time, pr’aps!
1926		K.S. Prichard Working Bullocks 233: Deb had heard [...] her mother threaten Billy she would ‘warm the hide off of him’ if he did not behave himself.

warm someone’s jacket (v.)

to thrash, esp. in context of school beatings.

1772		Bridges Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 239: I’ll warm your jacket if I can.
1797		Bridges Burlesque Homer (4th edn) II 317: I’ll warm their jackets with a pox.
1853		T. Haliburton Sam Slick’s Wise Saws I 119: I’ll warm your jacket for you before I start you out, that’s a fact.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn).
1873		Bradford Obs. 24 Dec. 7/2: ‘An’ thee, tha bad lad, aw’ll warm thi jacket for thee’.
1875		M. Thompson Hoosier Mosaics 168: The technical name of this method was ‘Warming the Jacket.’ [...] I recollect my floggings at school with so much aversion that I do think, if a teacher should whale one of my little ruddy-faced boys, I’d spread his (the teacher’s) nose over his face as thin as a rabbit skin!
1883		G.W. Peck Peck’s Bad Boy and His Pa (1887) 47: If I wasn’t in before nine o’clock he would come after me and warm my jacket.
1917		Van Loan ‘Modern Judgment of Solomon’ in Old Man Curry 264: If he tries to make my barn a hangout, I’ll warm his jacket for him.

warm the wax of someone’s ear (v.)

to box someone’s ears.

1864, 1867, 1870

Hotten Sl. Dict.

SE in slang uses

In phrases

warm the husband’s supper (v.) (also ...husband’s dinner, ...old man’s supper)

to stand in front of the fire with lifted skirts.

1896		Farmer Vocabula Amatoria (1966) 210: Petite chapelle (Faire la). To sit before the fire with petticoats raised to the knees; ‘to warm the husband’s supper.’.
1937–84		Partridge DSUE (1984) 584/1: ca.1860–1930.
1980		Maledicta IV:2 (Winter) 188: To warm the old man’s supper, which is to sit with skirts raised before the fire.

warm the oven (v.)

to drink, to get drunk.

1829

Vidocq Memoirs (trans. W. McGinn) III 94: We stumbled into the room like men somewhat stupid with liquor. ‘Hallo!’ said Hotot, [...] ‘You have been warming the oven early this morning.’.

warm the whole of one’s body (v.) [pun on whole/hole, i.e. the anus]

to stand with one’s back to the fire.

c.2003

‘Mr Men’ on BennyHills 🌐 Mr Farty ‘This campfire’s great,…….I might just warm the whole of my body….’.

warm up

see separate entries.