thimblerigger

English

Etymology

thimblerig +‎ -er or thimble +‎ rigger

Noun

thimblerigger (plural thimbleriggers)

  1. One who cheats by thimblerigging, or tricks of legerdemain.
    • 1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock:
      “ […] Them rich fellers, they don't make no bad breaks with their money. They watch it all th' time b'cause they know blame well there ain't hardly room fer their feet fer th' pikers an' tin-horns an' thimble-riggers what are layin' fer 'em. […] ”

Translations

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for thimblerigger in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

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