Chapter Frithiof's Sword to Fulsome of F by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

show them what to do. Their proper and original post was in front of the right wing. (German, Flügel, a wing.)

Fulhams or Fullams. Loaded dice; so called from the suburb where the Bishop of London resides, which, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was the most notorious place for blacklegs in all England. Dice made with a cavity were called "gourds." Those made to throw the high numbers (from five to twelve) were called "high fullams" or "gourds," and those made to throw the low numbers (from ace to four) were termed "low fullams" or "gourds."

"For gourd and fullam holds
And `high' and `low' beguile the rich and poor."
Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, i. 3.

   Fulhams. Make-believes; so called from false or loaded dice. (See above.)

"Fulhams of poetic fiction."
Butler: Hudibras, pt. ii. 1.

"Have their fulhams at command,
Brought up to do their feats at hand."
Butler: Upon Gaming.

Full Cry When all the hounds have caught the scent, and give tongue in chorus.

Full Dress The dress worn on occasions of ceremony. If a man has no special costume, his "full dress" is a suit of black, open waiscoat, swallow-tailed coat, white neckcloth, and patent-leather boots or half- boots. Academicals are worn in the Universities and on official occasions; and full military dress is worn when an officer is on duty, at court, and at official fêtes, but otherwise, "evening dress" suffices.

Full Fig (In). "En grande tenue. " Probably "fig" is the contraction of figure in books and journals of fashion, and full fig. would mean the height of fashion. It is outrageous to refer the phrase to the fig-leaves used by Adam and Eve, by way of aprons. (See Fig.)

Full Swing (In). Fully at work; very busy; in full operation.

Fulsome "Ful" is the Anglo-Saxon fúl (foulness), not ful (full); "some" is the affix meaning united with, the basis of something; as, gladsome, mettlesome, gamesome, lightsome, frolicsome, etc., etc.

"No adulation was too fulsome for her [Elizabeth], no flattery of her beauty too great." - Green: Short History of England, chap. viii. sec. 3, p. 376.