verb (old).—To steal. [In law, to transfer from one person to another; by which it will be seen that there is a certain humour in the expression.] For synonyms, see PRIG. Cf., ANNEX.
1596. SHAKESPEARE, Merry Wives of Windsor, i. 3. Nym. The good humour is, to steal at a minute’s rest. Pist. CONVEY, the wise it call.
1607. MARSTON, What You Will, II., 260. But, as I am Crack, I will CONVEY, crossbite, and cheat upon Simplicius.
1883. A. DOBSON, Old-World Idylls, ‘The Ballad of Imitation,’ p. 237.
| If they hint, O Musician, the piece that you played | |
| Is nought but a copy of Chopin or Spohr; | |
| That the ballad you sing is but merely CONVEYED | |
| From the stock of the Arnes and the Purcells of yore. |
1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 31 Oct., p. 3, col. 1. Three great works of research and collaboration have been projected and partially or wholly executed in England within the lifetime of the present generation. They are the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Dictionary of National Biography, and the New English Dictionary. Each of these, but especially the last (from which the Century crew have CONVEYED freely) is as perfect in its way as any human undertaking can be.
1890. Scots Observer, 14 June, p. 98, col. 1. Lest this may seem an ungenerous suspicion, I hasten to say that it would never have crossed my mind had not so many of the other characters in this remarkable production (?) been obviously CONVEYED (delicious word!) from well-known novels.
