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dress v Cp OED ~ v 13 'to prepare for use as food' for sense 1; cp
OED 11 'to subject to process [of] trimming, smoothing' for sense 2; for phr in
sense 4: cp OED 7 d ~ up 'to attire ... in a manner appropriate ... to a part
which one aspires to play.'
1 To head, gut and split fish
preparatory to any further 'curing' process; freq in phr dress down.
[1583] 1940 Gilbert's Voyages & Enterprises ii, 403
[Hayes' narrative] The Generall granted in fee farme divers parcells of land lying by the
water side, both in this harbor of S John, and elsewhere, which was to the owners a great
commoditie, being thereby assured (by their proper inheritance) of grounds convenient to
dresse and to drie their fish. [1620] 1887 MASON 151-2 Of these, three men to sea in a
boate with some on Shoare to dresse and dry them in 30. dayes will kill commonlie
betwixte 25. and thirty thousand worth. 1839 TUCKER 119 At the fish stands, while the cod
fishery is in the full tide of operation, the women are seen among the most constant and
dextrous in dressing the fish, thrown up by the fishermen. 1861 Harper's xxii,
459-60 Then the order was given by the skipper to 'haul in gear,' and fall to splitting
and salting. This operation, which is known as 'dressing down,' is performed on hogshead
tubs or boards placed between two barrels. 1936 SMITH 89 We dressed down our fish and had
it all split and salted before dark. 1953 Nfld Fish Develop Report 87 The catch is
now generally sold by the fishermen in the dressed form, i.e. with gut and head removed.
T 141/67-652 Where the fish is scarce of course it pays to dress [it] an' get
that an' salt it light cured an' get the most out of it. 1977 BUTLER 14 We would dress
our fish and herring. We had a canvas shed among the trees to dress and pack our herring.
We had no heat in the shed for frosty weather. This was a real ordeal, dressing, washing
and packing in barrels.
2 To trim branches from a felled
tree; LIMB; in constructing a boat, to smooth down timber and planks; freq in phr
dress down, ~ off, ~ up.
[1874] 1881 MURRAY& HOWLEY 361
He cuts down ... three trees (frequently, however, many more) and, after fixing
upon his quarry he retires for that day. On the next or some future day he returns to
dress up the selected tree. T 43/9-64 You'd have a day or two dressin' her off then
outside, wherever you could plane a bit off without strikin' a nail. You'd dress [the
boat] off an' get ready for caulkin'. T 183-65 An' then you'd dress up your keel, you
scarf your boat an' build her. P 148-68 To the right of the lumber is the keel of a small
motor boat all dressed and cut ready for construction.
3 To
make a bed (P 78-76).
1888 Colonist Christmas No 16 I see
the chamber-maid (when she comes up each morning to dress the beds) attire herself in her
mistress's new bonnet and cloak.
4 Phr dress
off/out: to attire in one's best clothes.
1916 Evening
Telegram 28 Aug "Humby's Balloon": It is thought that the Kaiser was takin' a gambol,
/ Dressed out in a murderous aeroplane garb. P 102-60 [He] brought me out an [Eton] suit
consisting of a pair of long gray pants, a vest, hammer-tail coat and a silk hat, and
Sundays my mother had to dress me off. P 148--61 [In this club] you have to be dressed
off after seven. P 54-67 He was all dressed off in his Sunday clothes.
dress up: in Christmas 'mummering,' to put on a fantastic
disguise or costume and visit various houses.
1893 Christmas
Greeting 20 However I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and went out after, every night that
the boys 'dressed up.' 1973 PINSENT 53 I never cared much for jannying or mummering or
dressing up or whatever the hell it was.
5 Comb
dress-up: (a) man disguised as a ghost; (b) the act of donning a disguise at
Christmas in order to go 'jannying.'
1966 PADDOCK 122 A less
ethereal, but no less frightening, apparition was the dress-up ... a person
disguised as a ghost to frighten or even assault others at night. T 361-67 There is a
dress-up at Greenspond. Somebody around February or March month dresses up and goes
around and steals clothes off lines, frightens people and is a weird-looking character.
1979 TIZZARD 175 The dress up meant you would don some old wearing apparel that you felt
sure no one knew, and put on a mask, usually of cotton cloth, over your face.
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