Coat-armour, coat of arms.

Coat-card, court-card.

Cob-herring, herring-cob, a young herring.

Cob-swan, male swan.

Cock-A-Hoop, denoting unstinted jollity; thought to be derived from turning on the tap that all might drink to the full of the flowing liquor.

Cockatrice, reptile supposed to be produced from a cock’s egg and to kill by its eye—­used as a term of reproach for a woman.

Cock-brained, giddy, wild.

Cocker, pamper.

Cockscomb, fool’s cap.

COCKSTONE, stone said to be found in a cock’s
gizzard, and to possess particular virtues.

Codling, softening by boiling.

Coffin, raised crust of a pie.

Cog, cheat, wheedle.

Coil, turmoil, confusion, ado.

Cokely, master of a puppet-show (Whalley).

Cokes, fool, gull.

Cold-conceited, having cold opinion of, coldly
affected towards.

Cole-Harbour, a retreat for people of all sorts.

Collection, composure; deduction.

Collop, small slice, piece of flesh.

Colly, blacken.

Colour, pretext.

Colours, “fear no—­,” no enemy (quibble).

COLSTAFF, cowlstaff, pole for carrying a cowl=tub.

Come about, charge, turn round.

Comfortable bread, spiced gingerbread.

Coming, forward, ready to respond, complaisant.

Comment, commentary; “sometime it is taken for a lie
or fayned tale” (Bullokar, 1616).

Commodity, “current for—­,” allusion to practice of money-lenders, who forced the borrower to take part of the loan in the shape of worthless goods on which the latter had to make money if he could.

Communicate, share.

Compass, “in—­,” within the range, sphere.

Complement, completion, completement; anything required for the perfecting or carrying out of a person or affair; accomplishment.

Complexion, natural disposition, constitution.

Compliment, See Complement.

COMPLIMENTARIES, masters of accomplishments.

Composition, constitution; agreement, contract.

Composure, composition.

Compter, counter, debtors’ prison.

Concealment, a certain amount of church property had been retained at the dissolution of the monasteries; Elizabeth sent commissioners to search it out, and the courtiers begged for it.

Conceit, idea, fancy, witty invention, conception, opinion.

Conceit, apprehend.

Conceited, fancifully, ingeniously devised or conceived; possessed of intelligence, witty, ingenious (hence well conceited, etc.); disposed to joke; of opinion, possessed of an idea.