Proper noun
Sandwich (plural Sandwiches)
- A town and civil parish with a town council in Dover district, Kent, southeastern England, one of the historic Cinque Ports (OS grid ref TR3258). [1]
- An English habitational surname originating from this town.
1788 July 10, “Friday’s Post”, in The Ipswich Journal, number 3026, Ipswich, Suffolk, published 1788 July 12, page [2], column 1:The young lady, who made her firſt appearance in Lady Bab Lardoon, at the Haymarket on Monday night laſt, is a Miſs Prideaux, and lineally deſcended from one of the daughters and co-heireſſes of the Right Hon. John Wilmot, the witty Earl of Rocheſter, and conſequently related to the Sandwiches, Pomfrets, Coopers, and many other noble families.
- One of several younger towns named after the town in Kent or after a person bearing the surname:
- A city in DeKalb County and Kendall County, Illinois, United States.
- A town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States.
- A town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States.
Noun
Sandwich (plural Sandwiches)
- Obsolete form of sandwich.
1762 November 24 (date written), Edward Gibbon, “Memoirs of My Life and Writings”, in John Lord Sheffield [i.e., John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield], editor, Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon, Esquire. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Strahan, and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies, (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell), […], published 1796, →OCLC, page 110:I dined at the Cocoa Tree […] That reſpectable body, of which I have the honour of being a member, affords every evening a ſight truly English. Twenty or thirty, perhaps, of the firſt men in the kingdom, in point of faſhion and fortune, ſupping at little tables covered with a napkin, in the middle of a coffee-room, upon a bit of cold meat, or a Sandwich, and drinking a glaſs of punch.
1771 (first performance), Samuel Foote, “Act I.”, in The Maid of Bath, a Comedy of Three Acts, […], London: […] George Allen, […], published [1775?], page 10:Sir Ch[ristopher]. Not a morſel, Tom, if you would give me the univerſe. / Rack[et]. Pooh, man, only a Sandwich or ſo.
1789 August 27, “Foreign Intelligence”, in The Pennsylvania Packet, and Daily Advertiser, number 3369, Philadelphia, Pa., published 1789 November 17, page [2], column 2:A Receipt to thin the Houſe of Commons. Put Mr. Martin in the chair—let Mr. Alderman Watſon have the opening ſpeech—Mr. Hawkins Brown the anſwer—Mr. Drake the reply—Mr. Beaufoy the rejoinder—and forbid the eating of Sandwiches in the gallery. Probatum eſt!
1790 February 27, “Oratorios”, in The Times, number 1615, London, page [3], column 1:Anstruther is a mighty good ſort of a man—but every man is not born an orator; even Mrs. Anſtruther, who has an excellent underſtanding, is obliged to have recourſe to Sandwiches, to render the unavoidable attendance ſupportable.
1841 October, Thomas Ingoldsby [pseudonym; Richard Barham], “The Auto-da-fé. A Legend of Spain.”, in Bentley’s Miscellany, volume X, London: Richard Bentley, […], canto II, page 473:While many a suitor, / And gay coadjutor / In the eating-and-drinking line, scorns to be neuter; / One, being perhaps just return’d with his tutor / From travel in England, is tempting his “future” / With a luxury neat as imported, “The Pewter,” / And charming the dear Violantes and Iñeses / With a three-corner’d Sandwich, and soupçon of “Guinness’s;” / While another, from Paris but newly come back, / Hints “the least taste in life” of the best cogniac.
1843 March 11, The Port Phillip Gazette, volume V, number 433, Melbourne, Vic., page [3], column 5:FORSTER & DAVIS Will sell by public auction, at their Mart, THIS DAY, the 11th March, instant, at twelve o’clock, […] One egg whisk / Six Sandwich boxes assorted / Six gravy strainers […]