ben mort

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English

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Alternative forms

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Noun

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ben mort (plural ben morts)

  1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Good woman.
    • 1610, Samuel Rowlands, “Towre Out Ben Morts”, in Farmer, John Stephen, editor, Musa Pedestris[1], published 1896, page 5:
      Towre out ben morts & towre, / Looke out ben morts & towre, / For all the Rome coues[sic] are budgd a beake, / And the quire coves tippe the lowre.
    • 1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton[2], volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129:
      Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.
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