Talk:powder

What does Dickens mean here by "powder away"?

Apparently it means something like "fight boldly", but our entry here does not explain any such sense of "powder".

• 1836-37, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

  The noise of the combat was terrific; each of the three combatants swearing like troopers, and their swords clashing with as much noise as if all the knives and steels in Newport market were rattling together, at the same time. When it was at its very height, the lady (to encourage my uncle most probably) withdrew her hood entirely from her face, and disclosed a countenance of such dazzling beauty, that he would have fought against fifty men, to win one smile from it and die. He had done wonders before, but now he began to powder away like a raving mad giant.

Equinox ◑ 20:14, 11 February 2022 (UTC)