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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—W

Winged Rooks

Outwitted sharpers. A rook is a sharper, and a rookery the place of resort for sharpers. A rook is the opposite of a pigeon; a rook cheats, a pigeon is the one cheated.

“This light, young, gay in appearance, the thoughtless youth of wit and pleasure - the pigeon rather than the rook - but the heart the same sly, shrewd, cold-blooded calculator.” — Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. xxviii.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Winifred
Wings of Azrael
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

More on Winged Rooks from Infoplease:

  • Winged Rooks - Winged Rooks Outwitted sharpers. A rook is a sharper, and a rookery the place of resort for ...
  • Plucked Pigeon - Plucked Pigeon (A). One fleeced out of his money; one plucked by a rook or sharper. “There ...
  • Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: W - Definitions, origins, and illustrative excerpts for words, phases, and literary allusions starting with "W"

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