"greeks" Definition

Definitions for the word "greeks" from multiple English dictionaries.

1. slang
the low Irish. St. Giles’s GREEK, slang or cant language. Cotgrave gives merrie GREEK as a definition for a roystering fellow, a drunkard. The GREEKS have always been regarded as a jolly, luxurious race; so much so, that the Latins employed the verb _Græcari_ (lit. to play the GREEK) to designate fine living and free potations, a sense in which Horace frequently uses it; while Shakspeare often mentions the merry GREEKS; and “as merry as a grig” (or GREEK) was long a favourite allusion in old English authors. It is said by some that grig is in this sense intended to represent the small eel of that name which from its lively movements is supposed to be always merry; while others incline to the belief that the cricket, which is also in some parts of the provinces known as a grig, is meant. Readers may take their choice.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864

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