noun
1: A man who lives off prostitutes' earnings; a pimp. (1859 —) .
G. Greer The role of the ponce...is too established for us to suppose that prostitutes have found a self-regulating lifestyle (1970).
2: A male homosexual; a lazy or effeminate man. Now often just a vague term of abuse. (1932 —) .
K. Amis As if I'd have said a word in front of that little ponce (1953).
3:
C. Macinnes Best of all...is poncing on some woman (1957).
4: to ponce about to act in an effeminate manner; to fool about. (1947 —) .
5: to ponce up to make effeminate, to 'tart' up. (1953 —) . Hence poncey, poncy,
M. Amis You haven't half got poncy mates (1973).
[Perh. derived from to pounce or spring upon someone. This is at least supported by the spelling of an early related word in Mayhew's London Labour ((1861)): The 'pounceys', (the class I have alluded to as fancy-men, called 'pounceys' by my present informant). Webster's dictionary ((1961)) marks 'ponce' as Brit slang.]
| pommy, pom-pom, pom | |
| pond, pongo, pontoon |
