highbinder

American  

[hahy-bahyn-der] / ˈhaɪˌbaɪn dər /

noun

1. a swindler; confidence man; cheat.

2. a dishonest political official or leader.

3. a member of a secret Chinese band or society employed in U.S. cities in blackmail, assassination, etc.

4. a ruffian or rowdy.

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highbinder British  

/ ˈhaɪˌbaɪndə /

noun

1. a gangster

2. a corrupt politician

3. (formerly) a member of a Chinese-American secret society that engaged in blackmail, murder, etc

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Etymology

Origin of highbinder

1800–10, apparently high + binder; literal sense is unclear

Example Sentences

We have pegged those stocks where the slump would be most demoralizing and already this highbinder, Burton, has smashed those pegs like match-stems.

From Destiny by Buck, Charles Neville

It was one Joe Ding, a notorious highbinder.

From The Bradys' Chinese Clew The Secrect Dens of Pell Street by Doughty, Francis Worcester

Her next question was, "Have you ever been a highbinder?"

From As A Chinaman Saw Us Passages from his Letters to a Friend at Home by Gratton, Henry Pearson

So I wasn’t going to have Beatrice’s husband a cutthroat and a highbinder as he would have to be if he had turned the whole trick.

From The Gorgeous Girl by Bartley, Nalbro

Remember, Mawruss, you got to tell him that as a partner I am a crank and a regular highbinder.

From Potash & Perlmutter Their Copartnership Ventures and Adventures by Glass, Montague

Related Words

• accomplice
• collaborator
• plotter
• traitor