also barb wire, "fencing wire with sharp edges or points," 1863, American English; see barb (n.) + wire (n.). Originally for the restraint of animals.

Chinese dish, 1885, American English, from Chinese (Cantonese dialect) tsap sui "odds and ends, miscellaneous bits." A Cantonese dish brought to the U.S. West Coast by Chinese immigrants.

1832, American English colloquial, from horse (n.), perhaps in referfence to the animal's qualities, or to the abilities of hostlers and coachmen with the animals, perhaps from the same association of "strong, large, coarse" found in horseradish.

"important person," 1929, American English, from Prohibition-era gangster slang; earlier in the same sense was great shot (1861). Ultimately a reference to large type of gunshot; see shot (n.).

c. 1300, "droop, descend," from go (v.) + down (adv.). Meaning "decline, fail" is from 1590s. Sense of "to happen" is from 1946, American-English slang. Go down on "perform oral sex on" is from 1916.

1550s, "be taken or regarded as," also "be in favor of," from go (v.) + for (adv.). Meaning "attack, assail" is from 1880. Go for broke is from 1951, American English colloquial.

attested from 1617, originally with reference to Holland; the North American confederation first so called in 1776. United Provinces were the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands, allied from 1579, later developing into the kingdom of Holland.

"weak or unguarded aspect of a person or thing," c. 1600; see blind (adj.). As a verb, also blindside, "to hit from the blind side," attested from 1968, American English, in reference to U.S. football tackles.

"railway maintenance worker," 1918, American English slang, of unknown origin; dancer perhaps from movements required in the work of tamping down ties or pumping a hand-cart, gandy perhaps from the name of a machinery belt company in Baltimore, Maryland.

a blackface troupe originated c. 1843 by Edwin P. Christy in Buffalo, N.Y.; one of the first (along with Dan Emmett) to expand blackface from a solo act to a full minstrel show and bring it into the mainstream of American entertainment.