1. fallen away: shrunk. this last action: i.e., the robbery at Gadshill.
2. bate: lose weight, grow thin.
4. apple-john: kind of apple that could be kept a long time and was eaten after its skin had become shriveled.
5. suddenly: at once. in some liking: (1) in good bodily condition; (2) in the mood.
8. peppercorn: grain of pepper.
9. a brewer's horse: i.e., one that is old, withered, and decrepit.
13. given: inclined.
18. good compass: reasonable limits, moderation.
22. compass: girth, circumference, expanse.
25. admiral: flagship.
30. memento mori: reminder of death (e.g. a skull engraved on a seal ring).
32. Dives: in Jesus' parable about the beggar Lazarus, "a certain rich man" who went to hell. See Luke 16:19-31.
35. By this fire that's God's angel: Perhaps an echo of Exodus 3:2 or an allusion to Psalms 104:4 and Hebrews 1:7.
36. given over: i.e., to wickedness.
40. ignis fatuus: will-o'-the-wisp. wildfire: fireworks.
41. triumph: torchlight procession.
43. links: torches.
46. as good cheap: as cheap.
47. salamander: fabulous lizard believed to live in fire.
52. Dame Partlet: traditional name for a hen. Falstaff alludes to the Hostess' agitation and flutter.
57. tithe: tenth part.
69. Dowlas: kind of coarse linen.
70. bolters: cloths for sifting flour.
71. holland: fine linen.
72. ell: a measurement of 45 inches (or a yard and a quarter).
73. by-drinkings: drinks between meals.
79. denier: French copper coin of little value (one twelfth of a sou). younker: novice, youth, greenhorn.
85. Jack: rascal. sneak-cup: Nares defines this as "one who shirks his liquor"; Johnson modifies to sneak-up meaning "a sneak."
90. Newgate: famous city prison in London. (Prisoners marched two by two.)
112-113. stewed prune: i.e., bawd. Stewed prunes were commonly associated with brothels.
113. drawn: i.e., out of its hole (and seeking to trick its pursuers).
114-115. Maid Marian may be the deputy's wife of the ward to thee: i.e., compared to you, Maid Marian--a disreputable character in Robin Hood ballads and May-games--was a model of propriety.
120. setting thy knighthood aside: disregarding your rank.
128. where to have her: i.e., how to take her. In lines 129-30 the Hostess, repeating the phrase, stumbles on an unflattering double-entendre.
130. have: understand (with suggestion of enjoying sexually).
134. ought: owed.
157. embossed: swollen (with fat). rascal: lean, inferior deer.
161. injuries: things whose loss would be an injury to you (with a play on the phrase pocket up injuries = swallow insults).
162. stand to it: make a stand, insist on your supposed rights. pocket up: endure silently.
173. still: always.
176. answered: settled.
184. with unwashed hands: i.e., at once, hastily.
186. charge of foot: command of a company of infantry.
188. thief: i.e., to steal a horse.
190. unprovided: ill equipped (for the campaign).
199. Temple Hall: hall of the Inner Temple, one of the Inns of Court that housed the legal societies of London.
202. furniture: equipment, provision.
206. I could wish this tavern were my drum: A disputed passage. Perhaps Falstaff means merely that he would rather continue to take his case at the inn than go to the wars. Or possibly he means to say that he could wish that he might recruit his soldiers by means of this tavern.