cutpurse
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈkʌtˌpɜrs/
- Archaic
:
carterista
- In the bustling market, she had to be careful of the cutpurse lurking in the crowd.
- pickpockets and cutpurses
Examples
-
I'm afraid you lack the subtlety to be an effective cutpurse, young fellow, my lad.
-
The stationers had closed their stalls for the meeting, but faint noises from Paul's told them that their absence was hardly noticed: the business of the gallants, usurers, and cutpurses went on as usual.
Fiction book (1993) -
Must have been a cutpurse.
-
There he is, the little cutpurse thief!
-
Cutpurses and horse-thieves, he thought.
Fiction book (1993) -
A cutpurse of the empire and the throne, that from a shelf the precious diadem stole - and put it in his pocket.
-
He was a moderately competent pickpocket and cutpurse, and a fairly gifted swindler.
Fiction book (1993) -
The streets were dangerous at night, filled with cutpurses waiting for an unsuspecting victim.
-
The young cutpurse was clever, skillfully slipping his hand into the rich man's coat pocket.
Synonyms
754
1.0
A person who takes someone else's things without permission
19
4.2
A person who steals wallets or phones from pockets and bags in crowds
4
4.6
A person who takes things that belong to others without permission
3
9.7
A person who steals from other people's pockets
2
7.6
A person who secretly steals things without using force
A person who steals money and small things from other people's pockets or bags
A person who steals things from people's pockets
A person who steals things secretly
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Cutpurse comes from the simple parts cut and purse, where cut means 'to cut' and purse means 'a small bag for money'. So a cutpurse was someone who cut a purse to steal, which is why the word means a thief who steals from people's pockets or purses in public.