or tol, subs. (old).—A sword-blade: manufactured at Toledo in Spain, whence in fifteenth and sixteenth centuries came the finest tempered weapons: cf. FOX. Hence a RUM-TOL = a silver-hilted sword; a QUEER-TOL = a very ordinary weapon (B. E. and GROSE).
1598. JONSON, Every Man in his Humour, iii. 1. Bob. A most perfect TOLEDO, I assure you, sir…. This a TOLEDO! Pish!
1612. WEBSTER, The White Devil, v. 2.
| Flam. O, what blade is’t? | |
| A TOLEDO, or an English fox? |
1834. W. H. AINSWORTH, Rookwood (1884), 95, ‘The Game of High Toby.’ His TOL by his side, and his pops in his pocket.
