/ · 1894 Brewer’s · S · Sub Hasta
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
By auction. When an auction took place among the Romans, it was customary to stick a spear in the ground to give notice of it to the public. In London we hang from the first-floor window a strip of bed-room carpet.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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