Jack the Ripper

British  

noun

1. an unidentified murderer who killed at least seven prostitutes in London's East End between August and November 1888

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Jack the Ripper Cultural  

1. A criminal in London in the late nineteenth century apparently responsible for several ghastly murders by slashing. His identity is unknown.

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Example Sentences

He was Jack the Ripper in “Time After Time” in 1979; two years later, in “Time Bandits,” his character was named simply Evil Genius.

From New York Times • Jul. 25, 2022

Jack the Ripper, simply put, was an embarrassment.

From Salon • Jul. 10, 2021

And speaking of Dracula, Kim Newman has been writing alternate histories with vampires ever since “Anno Dracula” made a cocktail of Victorian London, the undead and Jack the Ripper.

From Washington Post • Mar. 11, 2020

In Alfred Hitchcock’s early classic, a quiet tenant at a London boarding house might be Jack the Ripper.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 10, 2020

Now, thanks to Bertillon, the police could determine if a man claiming to be John Reynolds was actually Jack the Ripper.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day