a little of the creature

alternative obsolete a leetle of the creater · alternative a little of the critter

1. ScotlandUScolloquialuncountableA small drink of alcoholic spirits.

   Nothing; only it is poor sport to go on a dub without a little of the critter.

   1853, Anna Maria Collins, Mrs. Ben Darby, page 23

   2 more examples

   So I took ‘a leetle of the creater’ – that warmer of the cold, and cooler of the hot, – and it made me feel so good that I concluded it was like the negro's rabbit, ‘good any way.’

   1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of, Nebraska, published 1987, page 42

   And when he met her, he told her what he came about, and said that he never would mind what the women prayed for, but it was greatly against his health to be obliged to drink his wine and whiskey raw, and he'd a longing desire for a little of the creature neatly mixed up with lemon and sugar, and water [...].

   1836, “Legends of Blarney Castle”, in The Knickerbocker, volume VIII

   Synonyms: nip