French Synonyms.—La becquetance (popular = peck); le biffre (popular); la frigousse (popular); la fripe (popular, from O. Fr., fripper = to eat); la gringue (common); les matériaux (freemason’s = materials); la briffe (popular); la boustifaille (popular); le harnois de gueule (Rabelais: = mouth-harness); le coton (popular, an allusion to a lamp-wick); les comestaux (popular = comestibles); le tortorage (thieves’); la broute (popular = grazing); la morfe (O. Fr. Also, in a verbal sense = to feed); tortiller du bec (popular = to wag a jaw); se calfater le bec (nautical: also = to drink); becqueter (popular = to ‘peck’); béquiller (popular); chiquer (popular = to ‘chaw’); bouffer (popular); boulotter (common); taper sur les vivres (popular = to assault the eatables); pitancher (common: also = to drink); passer à la tortore (thieves’); se l’envoyer; casser la croustille (thieves’ = to crack a crust); tortorer (thieves’); briffer; passer à briffe (popular); brouter (Villon = to browse); se caler, or se caler les amygdales (popular); mettre de l’huile dans la lampe (common = to trim the lamp); se coller quelque chose dans le fanal, dans le fusil, or dans le tube (popular = to trim one’s beacon-light; to load one’s gun, etc.); chamailler des dents (popular = to ‘go it’ with the ivories); jouer des badigoinces (common: badigoinces = chaps); jouer des dominos (popular: dominos = teeth); déchirer la cartouche (military); gobichonner (popular); engouler (popular = to bolt); engueuler (colloquial = to gobble); friturer (popular: also = to cook); gonfler (popular: to blow out); morfiaillier (Rabelaisian); morfigner, or morfiler (From O. Fr., morfier; cf., Ital., morfire or morfizzare); cacher (popular = to stow away); se mettre quelque chose dans le cadavre (popular = to stoke); se lester la cale (nautical: to lay in ballast); se graisser les balots (thieves’: to grease the gills); se caresser (to do oneself a good turn); effacer (popular = to put away); travailler pour M. Domange (popular: M. Domange was a famous goldfinder or gong farmer [q.v.]); clapoter (popular); debrider la margoulette (popular = to put one’s nose in the manger); croustiller (popular); charger pour la guadaloupe (popular); travailler pour Jules (common: Jules = Mrs. Jones); se faire le jabot (popular, jabot = stomach); jouer des osanores (popular: osanores = teeth); casser (thieves’); claquer (familiar = to rattle one’s ivories); klebjer (popular); faire trimer les mathurins (popular = to make the running with one’s teeth); se coller quelque chose dans le bocal (common: bocal = paunch); estropier (popular = to maim); passer à galtos (nautical); bourrer la paillasse (common = to stuff the mattress); faire trimer le battant (thieves’); jouer des mandibules (popular); s’emplir le gilet (popular = to fill one’s waistcoat); se garnir le bocal (popular: to furnish one’s paunch); se suiver la gargarousse (nautical: also = to drink);