Here - Norm's Book Club

VAMP.
2. trans. To decamp or disappear from ; to quit
hurriedly. Freq. in phr. io vamose the ranch.
185a F. Marrvat Gold Onartz Mining 8 On the old
Califamtan principle of * making a *' pile " and vamosing the
ranche*. 1857 in 1\iQxut.on Amer. Gioss., Another pair of
jail-birds have vamosed the \os jail at Jacksonville. x888
K B. CfSTER Tenting on Plains i. (1803) 32, I got that far
when the eyes of the old galoots started out of their heads,
and they vamoosed the ranche.
Vamp (v?emp), sbS Forms : 3 vaumpe, 3, 5
uaiunps, 5 vawmpe ; 4-5 wampe, 5 vampe, 6
vamppe, 7- vamp. [ad. AF. *vamp4, *vanpi
(Palsgrave wintpU) , « OF. avanpii ( 1 2th c. ; later
F. mnmipud), f. auanif) before +/;V foot. The
final syllable is preserved in the variant Vampet.J
1. That part of hose or stockings which covers
the foot and ankle ; also, a short stocking, a sock.
Now dial,
a xaaS Ancr, R, 4*0 Ine sumer ?e habbeS leaue uorto gon
and sitten baruot, and hosen wiSuten uaumpez, and Itgge
ine ham hwoso likefl. 13. . Seuyn Sages (W.) 843 He dede
his schon of-drawe. And karf his vaumpes, fot-hot. And
wente him forht al barfot. 1376-9 DurJmm Ace. Rolls
(SorteesJsS; Pro..j pare botarum et Wampes de Dubelsols.
C t4*S ^^' *n Wr..WuIcker 654 Hecpedana^ wampe. c 1440
Pr^mp. Parv* 508/1 Vampe, of an hoose . pedana, a X56a
. ,
G. Cavendish U^olsey (1^3) 923 A!lthoughe..that our predecessors
went uppon clothe right somptiously, we do
entend..to goo a footc frome thence, without any suche
glory, in the vamppes of my hosyn. 1676 Coles, Krt«//*,
a sock. (1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Vamps or Va/npays,
an odd kind of short Hose or Stockings that cover'd the
Feet, and came up only to the Ancle, just above the Shooe. J
1880 in £, Comw, Ghss.
2. The part of a boot or shoe covering the front
of the foot; U.S.y that part between the sole and
the top in front of the ankle-seams.
1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iv. iv. 192 Her Grace when she
had victuall'd that grand Camp, Gave me a piece of Cheese
tuffasavamp. 16W Holme /4r?«(7«rj'"'' 14/1 Of a Shooe:
. . the Vamp, is all the piece that covers the top of the foot.
1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Vamp, the Upper Leather of a
Shoe. 1770 T. Hazard Son 0/ Robi. {18^3) 288 One pair
of vamps for shoes. 1785 Belknap in M, Cutler's Li/ey etc.
(i838) II. 234 This bathing vessel.. is in the form of a
slipper. He sits in the Heel, and his legs go under the
Vamp- ifloo Mar. Edgeworth Parent's Assist, (1854) 347
The last-maker made a last for her, and over this Mary
sewed the calico vamps tight. 1845 Whittier Shoetmikers
ii. Now shape the sole ! now deftly curl The glossy vamp
around it. 1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 280/1 The upper is
' found to consist, . . in the case of a button boot, of a vamp
to cover the front part of the foot [etc].
Vamp (v3emp), j*.2 [f. Vamp v.^] Anything
vamped, patched up, or refurbished ; a patchwork;
a book of this nature.
1884 J. F. HoDGETTS Old^r Englandn. 61 This name was
no vamp or hybrid mixture of Xatin and English. 1897
Academy 6 Mar. 274/1 Such vamps as the one I have
analysed from Mr. Henley's notes can only be credited to
him as brilliant luck brilliantly used.
b. A vamped or improvised accompaniment.
i88a in Imp. Diet. IV. 539.
Vamp (vsemp), v^ Also 8 vaump. [f. Vamp
r 1. trans. To provide or furnish with a (new)
vamp ; to mend or repair with or as with patches ;
to furbish up, renovate, or restore. Also with up.
Some further developments in dial, use are illustrated in
the Eng. Dial. Diet.
(«) XS99 [see Vamping vhl. j3.'J. x6.. Middleton, etc.
Old Law II. i. What a time did we endure In twopenny
commons, and in boots twice vamped ! 1639 Shirley GentL
Venicexw. ii, Giovanni. In the mean time ouy thee a sword
and belt, And what is fit. (Gives him money). Georgia. No
more: I'll be a soldier, .. l"his will Suffice to vamp my body.
a X700 B. E. Diet. Cant. Creiv, To Vamp^ to new Dress,
LJcker, Refresh, or Rub up old Hatts, Boots, &c. 1844
Alb. Smith Adv. Mr, Ledbury xiv. (1886) 42 Varioiis new.
footed boots .. vamped and polished to the last pitch of
ingenuity, i860 Emerson Conduct ofLife ix. Wks. (Bohn)
II. 446 Plod and plough, vamp your old coats and hats,
weave a shoestring. 1884 A. Griffiths C^r(j«. Newgate I. L
33 Blankets vamped in foreign parts with the hair of oxen.
(*) »7S5 Johnson Connoisseur No. 77 P i The woman
of the town, vamped up for shew with paint, patches,
plumpers, and every external ornament that art can ad<
minister. 1796 Mme. D'Arblav Camilla V. 189 The apparel
..would do well enough for herself, when vamped up, as
she knew how. 1837 Disraeli Venetia v. viii. Old furniture
. . re-burnishea and vamped up. 1864 C. Knight
Passages Work. Life I. v, aio Our old fabric . . was in danger
of falhng, ..although we had spent large sums in vamping
it up. 1875 Chambers* Jml, 30 Nov. 749 Old boots and
shoes are sold to men who vamp them up in such a style
that their former owners would not know them.
b. trans/, a.ii^Jig, (Freq. with reference to literary
compositions.)
(a) 163a Song in Lyly Sappho 11, iii, 109 To th' Tap-house
then lets gang, and rore, Cal hard, tis rare to vamp a
score, 1640GATAKEB IVhiiaker'vci Fuller ^^^/i?^i/rw. (1867)
II. Z17 Let them strive to vamp Their wasted memories
by another lamp. 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin i. i The
Argument? what needs a Proeme, To vamp a Three-half.
penny Poeme? 1706 Swift Baucis