yegg
- noun
- /jɛg/
- Archaic
- The police caught the notorious yegg trying to break into a bank vault.
Examples
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You know a yegg named DropJohnson?
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They'd flash their dusty standards at the wide-eyes, probably find some yegg to pin, probably even the right one.
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You know a yegg named Drop Johnson?
Fiction book (1990) -
You know what I'm in if the wrong yegg saw me pulled in here?
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Like a goddamn Bolshevik, picking up your orders from Yegg Central.
Fiction book (1990) -
We only take yeggs what's been to college.
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A guy rented it two weeks ago; the guy with the shoes is named Mr. Meister, a real yegg.
Fiction book (1995) -
Mr. Inside Out-ski, like some goddamn Bolshevik picking up his orders from Yegg Central.
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After hearing about the recent robbery, the town was on high alert for any yegg lurking around.
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The detective warned the store owner about a skilled yegg known for stealing from safes.
Synonyms
A person who enters a building without permission to steal things
A person who quietly climbs into buildings through upper windows or roofs to steal things
A thief who breaks open safes to steal what is inside
A person who steals from shops or buildings, often during a planned robbery
A person who illegally opens safes to steal things
A person who opens safes to steal things
How Serious
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word yegg is American slang from the early 1900s for a 'burglar', especially one who breaks safes. One popular story says it came from a criminal's name, so a helpful way to remember it is to think of yeggman, a man who opens safes, which is why yegg means a 'safe-breaker'.