Meanings
plural common sewers
- UKarchaicslangA communal session of drinking alcohol.
When men go into a 'sluicery' for a 'sensation,' a 'drain,' or a 'common sewer,' they call the glass of gin they seek, in allusion to the juniper, a 'nipper,' or, more briefly, a 'nip,' occasionally a 'bite,' and not unfrequently it turns out a 'flogger.'
1869, Meliora, volume 12, page 47
Origin
A punning allusion to shared drains for sewage. Compare drain (“a drink”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
common sewer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20sewer
“common sewer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20sewer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “common sewer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/common%20sewer.
Source: common sewer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.