two-to-one

noun

The pawnbroker's sign of three balls.

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Meanings

noun
  1. UKobsoleteslangThe pawnbroker's sign of three balls.

    A song I'm going to sing you, / And presently I'll bring you, / Where your conscience I hope won't sting you, / — At the sign of the Two-to-one!

    1877, John Diprose, New standard song book and reciter, page 194
    1 more example

    “A pawnbroker!” cried Dick, with a loud laugh; whereupon the two-to-one lady blushed up to the eyes and whispered to her friend, “How could they know us?”

    1819, Felix Mac Donough, The Hermit in London; or, Sketches of English Manners, page 182
Cite this entry
APA

two-to-one. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two-to-one

MLA

“two-to-one.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two-to-one. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “two-to-one,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/two-to-one.

Source: two-to-one on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.