Abraham Lincoln

English

Abraham Lincoln
A five-dollar bill (sense 2)
A penny (sense 3)

Etymology

From Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), the sixteenth president of the United States of America, noted for his integrity and for abolishing slavery. Senses 2 and 3 are after the portrait of Lincoln featured on them.

Noun

Abraham Lincoln (plural Abraham Lincolns)

  1. An emancipator or analogous reformer.
    • 1890, Thomas Wallace Knox, The Boy Travellers in Mexico: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to ..., Harper & brothers:
      (Table of contents, pg. viii) The Abraham Lincoln of Mexico
      (pg. 124-5) He has been called the Washington or the Lincoln of Mexico ; To him Mexico owes the Laws of the Reform and the concessions that have brought railways into the country and opened it up to commercial relations with the rest of the world.
    • 1908, William Garrison, quoted in Annie Le Porte Diggs, The Story of Jerry Simpson, Jane Simpson (publisher), pg. 252:
      He was greatly beloved and regarded as the Abraham Lincoln of Kansas. When the history of reform is written; when we have a government administered by and for the people let it be said of Jerry Simpson that he gave the best of his life to free labor from the bondage of capital.
    • (Quoted passage) 1995, "Pakistanis silence youthful voice against child labor," 1995, April 1, Chicago Tribune, p. 6, in 2005, William A. Corsaro, The Sociology of Childhood, Pine Forge Press, pg. 25 →ISBN:
      In a seven-minute acceptance speech, Iqbal said he wanted to become a lawyer "'so he could become the Abraham Lincoln of his people'"
    • 2001, Barbara Olson quoted in Evelyn L. Damore, The Rattle and Hiss of the Tin Gods, iUniverse, →ISBN, pg. 180:
      In the words of Clinton's openly homosexual advisor David Mixner, 'Clinton became the Abraham Lincoln of our movement'
  2. (US, slang, rare) A United States five-dollar bill.
    Synonyms: Abe, Abe Lincoln, Lincoln
    • 1989, John Mitchum, quoting George Fargo, “Standing on the Vietnam Front Line”, in Them Ornery Mitchum Boys (The Adventures of Robert and John Mitchum), Pacifica, Calif.: Creatures at Large Press, →ISBN, book 6 (Adventures in the ’60’s), page 200:
      Say—I got the telephone bill this morning. Fifty-two clams for long distance. I’m just an extra, James, not a star. I can’t afford fifty-two Abraham Lincolns for the phone.
    • 2003 August, Ercille Christmas, Thoughts of a Proud American: An Ode to “Joe and Josephine Ordinary, Salt of the Earth Americans”, Bloomington, Ind.; Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire: AuthorHouse, published 2006, →ISBN, page 606:
      OK, Lord I am staying, so please open that umbrella, or better yet rain down some Abraham Lincolns and some Ben Franklins on me. I cannot name any higher denomination of money – never been privileged to see anything over a $100 bill.
    • 2010, Tony Nolan, “Step Over”, in Hurt Healer: Reaching Out to a Broken World, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, →ISBN, part 2 (Showing Jesus), page 139:
      My heart sank, and began to grieve deeply as I contemplated how many times my mother might have been passed out on that very bench years ago after going through a horrendous night of sexual favors in exchange for a few Abraham Lincolns.
  3. (US, slang, rare) A penny (United States coin).
    Synonym: Abe Lincoln (rare)
    • 1995 September, Jan Zimlich, Not Quite Paradise, New York, N.Y.: Love Spell, Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc., →ISBN, page 179:
      It was the same expression Grampa had worn the first time they played this game, right before he declared himself the winner. / He waffled over his options a few seconds longer, then tossed the required coins in the middle of the table and added two more. “I lift your Abraham Lincolns with an additional two.” / Garner rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “How many times have I got to tell you people? You’re supposed to say, ‘I raise you,’ not lift!” / “All right. I raise you two Abraham Lincolns.”
    • 1997, U.S. News & World Report, volume 122, page 14:
      Find a penny, pick it up, and all day, you’ll have good luck. But you sure won’t have much buying power. Today, 1 pound of Abraham Lincolns ($2) will purchase what 4 tiny ounces bought in 1970.
    • 2003, Rebecca A. Wilson, “The Mexican Restaurant Project”, in Judy Harris Helm, Sallee Beneke, editors, The Power of Projects: Meeting Contemporary Challenges in Early Childhood Classrooms—Strategies and Solutions (Early Childhood Education Series), New York, N.Y.: Teachers College Press; Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children, →ISBN, chapter 6 (Supporting Second-Language Learners), page 76, column 2:
      Morgan was especially excited about making the coins for the cash register. She came to school and said, “Mrs. Wilson, I made George Washingtons and Abraham Lincolns for our cash register!”
    • 2014, Jon Weece, Jesus Prom: Life Gets Fun When You Love People Like God Does, Nelson Books, →ISBN, page 110:
      My kids have a piggy bank full of pennies. They love to dump the pennies on the floor and count them. Stacks of Abraham Lincolns. One hundred Abraham Lincolns equals one George Washington.

Further reading

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