Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—D

Douse the Glim

Put out the light; also knock out a man's eye. To douse is to lower in haste, as “Douse the top-sail” Glim, gleam, glimmer, are variants of the same word.

 `And so you would turn honest, Captain Goffe, agrazing, would ye,'
said an old weather-beaten pirate who had but one eye;
`what though he ... made my eye dowse the glim
... he is an honest man' ...

—The Pirate, chap. xxxiii.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Dousterswivel
Douglas Tragedy
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