mustiness (mustines)

The state or quality of being musty or sour; moldine ; damp foulne . mus to (mus'tō), n. [Sp. Pg. It. mos to, Shak ., Much Ado, i. 3. 61. Astrology's Last home, a musty pile of almanacs. Whittier, Bridal of Penna cook, Prol. 2. Having an ill flavor; vapid: as, musty wine. -3. Dull; heavy; spiritle ; moping; stale. The proverb is something musty. Shak., Hamlet, iii. 2. 359. On her birthday We were forced to be merry, and, now she's musty , We must be sad, on pain of her displeasure. Mas singer , Duke of Milan, ii. 1. II. n. Snuff having a musty flavor. I made her resign her snuff-box for ever, and half drown herself with washing away the stench of the musty . Steele, Tatler, No. 79. Musty , a cheap kind of snuff, also mentioned in Tatler, No. 27. It derived its name from the fact that a large quantity of musty snuff was captured with the Spanish Fleet at Vigo in 1702, and musty-flavoured snuff, or musty , accordingly became the fashion for many succeeding years. A. Dobson, Selections from Steele, p. 464, note.