lose the number of one's mess

Meaning: (nautical,idiomatic)Todie, toperish.1870,W.H.G. Kingston,From Powder Monkey to Admiral:"What do you think we come to sea for? If we can take a man-of-war of our own size she's worth half a dozen merchant craft, though, to be sure, some of us maylose the number of our mess; but we all know that, and make no count of it."1880,J.C. Hutcheson,Fritz and Eric:Shore folk think sailors are heartless, and that when a poor chap is lost overboard, they only say that "So-and-so haslost the number of his mess!" and, after having an auction over his kit in the fo'c's'le, then dismiss him from their memory!1993,Patrick O'Brian,The wine-dark sea:"And then before the mast, there was poor John Proby, who lost the number of his mess two days out of Callao."

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