adj. (Oxford University).—Impudent; self-possessed.
1864. TENNYSON, Northern Farmer (Old Style), line 25. But parson a coomes an’ a goos, an’ a says it eäsy an’ FREEÄ.
1857. SNOWDEN, Magistrates Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444. To steal a muff. To FREE a cat.
1859. G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.
1882. J. D. MCCABE, New York by Sunlight and Gaslight, ch. xxxiv., p. 509. (Given in list of slang terms.)
FREE-FUCKING, subs. (venery).—General lewdness. Also the favour gratis. Also fidelity to the other sex at large.
FREE OF FUMBLER’S HALL, adv. phr. (venery).—Impotent; unable to do ‘the trick.’ [FUMBLER’S HALL = female pudendum.]
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v., A saying of one who cannot get his wife with child.
FREE, GRATIS,—FOR NOTHING, phr. (common).—A pleonastic vulgarism. Cf., ON THE DEAD.
TO MAKE FREE WITH BOTH ENDS OF THE BUSK, verb. phr. (venery).—To take liberties with a woman. Cf., BOTH ENDS OF THE BUSK.
FREE OF THE HOUSE, adj. phr. (colloquial).—Intimate; privileged to come and go at will.
FREE OF THE BUSH, adj. phr. (venery).—On terms of extreme intimacy. See BUSH.
[For the rest, the commonest sense of FREE is one of liberality: e.g., FREE OF HIS FOOLISHNESS = full of chaff; FREE-HANDED = lavish in giving; FREE-HEARTED = generously disposed; FREE OF HER FAVOURS = liberal of her person; FREE OF HIS PATTER = full of talk.]
