English

Alternative forms

• play up Old Gooseberry

Verb

play Old Gooseberry ‎(third-person singular simple present plays Old Gooseberry, present participle playing Old Gooseberry, simple past and past participle played Old Gooseberry)

1. (archaic, idiomatic, Britain) To suddenly put a stop to a disturbance by force or threats.
2. (archaic, idiomatic, Britain) To play the devil; to make mischief.
   • 1843–44, Dickens, Charles, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit:

     I'll play old Gooseberry with the office, and make you glad to buy me out at a good high figure, if you try any of your tricks with me.

Synonyms

• (make mischief): play Old Harry

References

• Grose, Francis (1788) A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, London: S. Hooper
• Farmer, John Stephen (1893) Slang and Its Analogues, volume 3, page 183
• Eric Partridge, The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang. Routledge, 1973. ISBN 9780710077615.