fullam

See also: Fullam

English

Two dice, both landing high on six.

Alternative forms

fullan, fullom, fulham

Etymology

From Fulham, a London suburb, which during the reign of Queen Elizabeth was the most notorious place for blacklegs in all of England. Loaded dice were supposed to have been chiefly made there. Fulham derives from Old English Fullanhām, Fullanhōm.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfʊləm/
Hyphenation: ful‧lam
Rhymes: -ʊləm

Noun

fullam (plural fullam or fullams)

(archaic, Britain, slang) A false die; a die intentionally loaded, or unevenly weighted, so that it always rolls a specific number.
- 1594, Nashe, Thomas, The Unfortunate Traveller:
  Captaine, you perceiue how neere both of vs are driuen, the dice of late are growen as melancholy as a dog, high men and low men both prosper alike, langrets, fullams, and all the whole fellowshippe of them will not affoord a man his dinner, some other means must be inuented to preuent imminent extremitie.
- a. 1597, Shakespeare, William, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 1, Scene 3:
  Let vultures gripe thy guts! For gourd and fullam holds / And high and low beguiles the rich and poor.
- 1599, Jonson, Ben, Every Man out of His Humour, Act 3, Scene 1:
  Who! he serve? 'sblood, he keeps high men, and low-men, he! he has a fair living at Fullam.
(archaic, Britain, colloquial, by extension) A sham; a hoax; a make-believe.

Synonyms

(false die): gourd, langret, loaded dice (plural)
(sham): see Thesaurus:deception

Hyponyms

(false die): highmen (“loaded for high number”) (plural), lowmen (“loaded for low number”) (plural), uphills (“loaded for high number”) (plural)

References

Farmer, John Stephen (1893) Slang and Its Analogues‎, volume 3, page 83

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