subs. (American thieves’).—Death: as verb = to kill. Also (old cant), ANODYNE NECKLACE (or NECKLACE) = a halter (GROSE). See HORSE-COLLAR, LADDER, and NUBBING-CHEAT.
[1636. FLETCHER, The Bloody Brother, iii. 2. Speaks of the hangman’s halter as a ‘necklace.’]
1766. GOLDSMITH, The Vicar of Wakefield [Works (Globe), xx. 43]. May I die by an ANODYNE NECKLACE, but I had rather be an under-turnkey in Newgate.
