rain napper

English

Noun

rain napper (plural rain nappers)

1. (UK, slang, obsolete) An umbrella.
   • 2010, Ann DeWitt, Kevin M. Weeks, Entangled in Freedom: A Civil War Story, page 17:

     Within a few minutes, Mr. Fair, who was also the Sheriff, came into the building while closing his rain napper.

   • 2015, Laurie R. King, In the Company of Sherlock Holmes:

     “Tonight I would trade every fancy racer for a hansom nag, or even for a rain napper.”

   • 2016, Matthew J. Kirby, A Taste for Monsters:

     “Glad to hear it,” he said. “Shoulda taken a rain napper, though. You're wet through.”

Usage notes

• In print, found only in modern historical novels, presumably taken from the 1873 slang dictionary referenced below.

References

• John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary