Skip to main content
safecracker

safecracker

4 8.9
A person who breaks into safes to steal money or other things
  • noun
  • /ˈseɪfˌkrækər/
translation icon : forzador de cajas fuertes
  • The police arrested a notorious safecracker after he was caught in the act of breaking into a bank.

Examples

Synonyms

yegg
vssafecracker
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A person who breaks into places like banks to steal from safes

is a neutral standard word for the specific criminal who targets safes
cracksman
vssafecracker
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A thief who breaks open safes to steal what is inside

is the gender-neutral term used for anyone doing that criminal act
safebreaker
vssafecracker
9.1

A person who illegally opens safes to steal things

is the alternative common name for that criminal activity
crackswoman
vssafecracker
  • Archaic
9.9

A woman who breaks open safes to steal valuable things

is the gender-neutral term used for anyone doing that criminal act
boxman
vssafecracker
  • NSFW
9.9

A person who opens safes to steal things

is the general criminal label rather than a specialist role

Surface Forms

safecracker singular
safecrackers plural

Morphology

safecracker = safe + cracker (transparent) = safe + cracker

The compound clearly combines 'safe' and an agent noun 'cracker' to mean someone who cracks safes; the meaning follows regular compounding rules and is inferable from the parts.

Etymology

Safecracker joins safe, which means 'a strong box for money and valuable things', and cracker, which means someone who 'cracks' things open. Think of a nutcracker that breaks a nut: a safecracker 'cracks' a safe to steal, so the word means a criminal who opens safes to take valuable things.