cutpurse
Americannoun
-
Older Use. a pickpocket.
-
(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.
It will tell the stories of 25 women who have been overlooked by history, from the 17th-century pickpocket Moll Cutpurse to the 19th-century pirate Ching Shih.
From The Guardian • Oct. 16, 2017
The Roaring Girl, or Moll Cutpurse, acted by the Prince's Players, 1611; part of this play was writ by Mr. Decker.
From The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume I. by Cibber, Theophilus
This was no less a feat than the plundering of that warlike general, Fairfax, by Moll Cutpurse.
From The Bath Road History, Fashion, & Frivolity on an Old Highway by Harper, Charles G. (Charles George)
THE most illustrious woman of an illustrious age, Moll Cutpurse has never lacked the recognition due to her genius.
From A Book of Scoundrels by Whibley, Charles
Yet none knew her until she reached Bishopsgate, where an orange-wench set up the cry, 'Moll Cutpurse on horseback!'
From A Book of Scoundrels by Whibley, Charles
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.
