subs. (common).—A man of fashion; a swell.—See quot., 1883, and DANDY for synonyms.
1859. G. A. SALA, Twice Round the Clock, 6 P.M., par. 20; Tremendous COUNTS are the clerks in the secretary’s office, jaunty bureaucrats, who ride upon park hacks, and are ‘come for’ by ringlets in broughams at closing time.
1883. G. A. S[ALA], in Illustrated London News, April 21, p. 379, col. 2. Fops flourished before my time, but I can remember the ‘dandy,’ who was superseded by the COUNT, the ‘toff,’ and other varieties of the ‘swell.’
