shark2 (shark)

[Now regarded as a transferred use of shark1, but prob. orig. of diff. origin (and perhaps itself the source of shark1 ); a ociated with shark2, v.] 1. A sharper; a cheat; a greedy, dishonest fellow who eagerly preys upon others; a rapacious swindler. A thread-bare shark; one that never was a soldier, yet lives upon lendings. B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, Pref. We do take away the po ibility of a "corner" or of speculation on the part of the bullion owners, and give the Secretary of the Treasury some opportunity to defend himself and the Treasury against the sharks who might attempt at the end of each month to force him to purchase at a fabulous price the amount directed by law. Congre ional Record, XXI. 7783. 21. The sharp practice and petty shifts and stratagems of a swindler or needy adventurer. Wretches who live upon the shark. South , Sermons, II. vi. Land-shark, a sailor's name for a sharper. shark2 (shärk), v . [Prob. n . (according to the usual view, shirk , which is thought to be a var. of shark2 .] I. in trans. To play the shark or needy adventurer; live by one's wits; depend on or practise the shifts and stratagems of a needy adventurer; swindle: sometimes with an impersonal it : as, to shark for a living. I left the route, And closely stole away, having defraide A great part of the reckning; which I paide... Because they should not think I came to sharke Only for vittailes. Times ' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 85. Ah, captain, lay not all the fault upon officers! you know you can shark , though you be out of action. Beau . and Fl ., Honest Man's Fortune, iii. 3. He was one of those vagabond cosmopolites who shark about the world, as if they had no right or busine in it. Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 334. To shark out, to slip out or escape by low artifices. [Vulgar.] II. trans. To pick up; obtain or get together by sharking: with up or out . IMG:content-0806.png:[blocks in formation] If to dig they are too lazy, to beg ashamed, to steal afraid, to cheat want wit, and to live means, then thrust in for a room in the church; and, once crept in at the window, make haste to shark out a living. Rev. T. Adams, Works, I. 453. What a detestable set of characters has Ford here sharked up for the exercise of his fine talents! Gifford, note in Ford's Tis Pity, ii. 4. sharker (shär'ker), n. [ Though y' are sure of this money again at my hands, yet take heed how this same Lodovico get it from you; he's a great sharker . Chapman , May-Day, ii. 5. Men not worth a groat, but mere sharkers , to make a fortune. Burton , Anat. of Mel., p. 490. sharking (shär'king), a. [ shark2 , n., + -ing2.] Prowling or voracious like a shark; greedy; always on the outlook for something to snap up. Alguazeir; a sharking panderly constable. Fletcher (and another ), Love's Cure (ed. 1679), Dram. Pers. His hair hung in straight gallows-locks about his ears, and added not a little to his sharking demeanor. Irving , Knickerbocker, p. 334. A noctuid moth shark-moth (shärk'môth), n. of the subfamily Cuculliinæ: so called poриlarly in England from their shape when at rest. Cucullia umbratic a is an example. C. chamomillæ is the camomile-shark, C. tanaceti the tansy-shark, C. lactuca the lettuce-shark, etc.