E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Miller.
To drown the miller. (See DROWN, etc.)
1
To give one the miller is to engage a person in conversation till a sufficient number of persons have gathered together to set upon the victim with stones, dirt, garbage, and all the arms which haste supplies a mob with. (See MILL.)
2
More water glideth by the mill than wots the miller of (Titus Andronicus, ii. 1). Many things are done in a house which the master and mistress never dream of.
