Status Updates From A Dictionary of the English...

SOUP. n.s. Strong decoction of flesh for the table.

SME'LLFEAST. n.s. A parasite; one who haunts good tables.

OATS. n.s. [aten, Saxon.] A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.

MO’UTH-FRIEND. n.s. [mouth and friend.] One who professes friendship without intending it.

LEXICO’GRAPHER. n.s. [λεξiχóν and γϱώφω; lexicographe, French.] A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words.

To HISS. v.n. [hissen, Dutch.] To utter a noise like that of a serpent and some other animals. It is remarkable, that this word cannot be pronounced without making the noise which it signifies.

HOWD’YE. [Contracted from how do ye.] In what state is your health. A message of civility.

HUNKS. n.s. [hunskur, sordid, Islandick.] A covetous sordid wretch; a miser; a curmudgeon.

FO’PDOODLE. n.s. [fop and doodle.] A fool; an insignificant wretch.

FUN. n.s. [A low cant word.] Sport; high merriment; frolicksome delight.

To FLA’TTER. v.a. [flater, French.] 1. To sooth with praises; to please with blandishments; to gratify with servile obsequiousness; to gain by false compliments.

To EMBRO’THEL. v.a. [brothel, brodel.] To inclose in a brothel.

To DEFRA’UD. v.a. [defraudo, Latin.] To rob or deprive by a wile or trick; to cheat; to cozen; to deceive; to beguile. With of before the thing taken by fraud.

Sometimes Johnson simply gives up: drayplough (‘A plough of a particular kind’), sonata (‘A tune’), surprise sense 2 (‘A dish, I suppose, which has nothing in it’).

...we laugh at the elixir that promises to prolong life to a thousand years; and with equal justice may the lexicographer be derided, who being able to produce no example of a nation that has preserved their words and phrases from mutability, shall imagine that his dictionary can embalm his language, and secure it from corruption and decay…

n. 2 Only two of his personal definitions seem to have caused Johnson any trouble... [2] And Johnson’s view of a pension as ‘pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country’ was the source of much merriment, some quite vindictive, when he accepted just such a pension (of £300) from the king in 1762.

Had to jump ahead and check "Banker" first...

'By powerful charmes of gold and silver led,
The Lombard bankers and the change to waste.' —Dryden

Modern day Lombards: https://twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/...

Up to "co" at the moment. The book is very interesting for etymology, usage of words and learning many old words that aren't used today.