E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Dependence.
An existing quarrel. (A term used among swordsmen.)
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“Let us pause … until I give you my opinion on this dependence … for if we coolly examine the state of our dependence, we may the better apprehend whether the sisters three have doomed one of us to expiate the same with our blood.”—Sir W. Scott: The Monastery, chap. xxi.
