peterman
Americannoun
-
petermen
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of peterman
1805–15; peter a safe or cash box, originally a portmanteau or trunk, as an object to be stolen or rifled (of obscure origin) + -man
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.
And the dobbel peterman flowed into their stomachs as if it had been a cataract falling down from some lofty mountain.
From The Legend of the Glorious Adventures of Tyl Ulenspiegel in the land of Flanders and elsewhere by Coster, Charles de
I knew about it—got it from a peterman who has studied safes and all that sort of thing.
From The Ear in the Wall by Reeve, Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin)
As a peterman he was a loud ha-ha; as a damper-getter he was just an amateur; as a heel or a houseman, well, them things were just outside him.
From Black Jack by Brand, Max
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.
