Molly \Mol"ly\, n.
A pet or colloquial name for Mary.
Molly cottontail. (Zo["o]l.) See Cottontail.
Molly Maguire (m[.a]*gw[imac]r"); pl. Molly Maguires
(-gw[imac]rz).
(a) A member of a secret association formed among the
tenantry in Ireland about 1843, principally for the
purpose of intimidating law officers and preventing the
service of legal writs. Its members disguised themselves
in the dress of women.
(b) A member of a similar association of Irishmen organized
in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania, about
1854, for the purpose of intimidating employers and
officers of the law, and for avenging themselves by
murder on persons obnoxious to them. The society was
broken up by criminal prosecutions in 1876.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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