subs. (colloquial).—Routine; RED-TAPE (q.v.).
Verb. (colloquial).—1. To wipe out; to settle: as accounts.
1853. DICKENS, Bleak House, xvii. You … would not understand allusions to their PIPE-CLAYING their weekly accounts.
2. (tailors’).—To hide faults of workmanship; or defects in material.
