cutpurse
Americannoun
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Older Use. a pickpocket.
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(formerly) a person who steals by cutting purses from the belt.
noun
Etymology
Origin of cutpurse
First recorded in 1325–75, cutpurse is from the Middle English word cutte-purs. See cut, purse
Vocabulary lists containing cutpurse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sweet potatoes, fruit Jello, and roast pork — not turkey — would be served to all the inmates, from the lowliest cutpurse to what amounted to the celebrity wing, and its residents:
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 23, 2023
Now, Eugene wishes to gain a final rest from the cycle, to be released from the emotional burden he has carried since his days as a cutpurse in Moorish Spain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2023
And the most ridiculous handball of all time, Raúl's cheeky chip and Andriy Shevchenko the cutpurse all star in this week's YouTube round-up.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 5, 2010
Righteousness among thieves, on the other hand, is chiefly conspicuous when one cutpurse can better himself by loudly proclaiming the iniquity of his rival or accomplice.
From Time Magazine Archive
"You'll have every cutpurse within a league down upon us!"
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
