flesh-bag
Obsolete British slang for a shirt — the garment closest to the flesh, hence a 'bag' for the body.
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#1·Apr 28, 2026
Obsolete British slang for a shirt — the garment closest to the flesh, hence a 'bag' for the body. The term is colorfully blunt and dates from earlier centuries of British cant and slang. Now completely out of use except in historical slang dictionaries and period fiction.
The constable noted that the suspect had been found without his flesh-bag despite the cold.
Origin: British cant: 'flesh' (the body) + 'bag' (a garment that contains); archaic slang for a shirt. Editorial expansion authored on Slangora.
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#2·Apr 27, 2026
(obsolete, slang) A shirt.
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Other words near "flesh-bag" (F)
fleetingsFleet marriageFleet parsonFlemish accountflerfflesh and bloodfleshiefleshloaffleshpotfleshspacefleshtuberFLET
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