slipstring

English

Etymology

slip +‎ string

Noun

slipstring (plural slipstrings)

1. (obsolete) A wastefully extravagant person; a prodigal; a spendthrift.
   • 1546, John Heywood, chapter VII, in Julian Sharman, editor, The Proverbs of John Heywood‎^[1], London: George Bell and Sons, published 1874, pages 147–148:

     Every promise that thou therein dost utter, / Is as sure as it were sealed with butter, / Or a mouse tyed with a threed. Every good thing / Thou lettest even slip, like a waghalter slipstring.

   • 1611, Randle Cotgrave, A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, page GOI-GON:

     Goinfre: m. A wag, ſlipſtring, knaviſh lad; a merrie conceited whoreſonne, a notable good fellow, an excellent companion.

   • 1619, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, A King and No King, act 2, scene 2; republished in The Works of Beaumont & Fletcher, volume 2, London: Edward Moxon, 1843, page 270:

     Well, slip-string, I shall meet with you.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:spendthrift

Anagrams

• Striplings, split-rings, striplings