v. humorous or colloq. Also spifflicate, spefflicate. [Prob. a purely fanciful formation. Cf. SMIFLIGATE v.] trans. To deal with in such a way as to confound or overcome completely; to treat or handle roughly or severely; to crush, destroy.
Common in the 19th century.
α. 1785. Grose, Dict. Vulgar T., To spiflicate, to confound, silence, or dumbfound.
1796. New Brighton Guide, 39. Come, spiflicate that scoundrel Care, Gruel him, bruise him, never fear.
1818. Moore, Fudge Fam. Paris, ix. 223. Alas, alas, our ruin’s fated; All done up, and spiflicated! Ibid. (1824), Mem. (1853), IV. 258. Asked him about Pendeli, which is long, as I feared, and my song, accordingly, spiflicated.
1842. Barham, Ingol. Leg., Ser. II. Babes in Wood, xi. So out with your whinger at once, and scrag Jane, while I spiflicate Johnny!
1873. Brit. Q. Rev., LVII. 276. The way in which the learned, racy old Hector smashes and spiflicates scientific idiots … is delicious.
β. 1841. Hartshorne, Salop. Ant., Gloss., Spifflicate, to do some bodily injury.
1857. Dufferin, Lett. High Lat. (ed. 3), 200. The best mode of spifflicating the white bears.
1894. Stevenson & L. Osbourne, Ebb-tide, 221. I on’y ast you to stand by and spifflicate the niggers.
Hence Spiflicating ppl. a.
1891. G. Meredith, One of our Conq., x. You’ve got a spiflicating style of talk about you.
