second-story man
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of second-story man
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
A woman catches a second-story man in her house, engages him in conversation, gives him a drink to get his fingerprints.
From Time Magazine Archive
I have about as much weight in financial circles as a second-story man, and am regarded in much the same light, while you are as important as a cipher without the rim.
From The Lady Doc by Lockhart, Caroline
Claude has acted for many years as a second-story man for Guissepi, and is one of the very best ice-cutters in the whole monkey business.
From Skiddoo! by McHugh, Hugh
Sam was no second-story man; he worked on the ground floor in broad daylight.
From Otherwise Phyllis by Gibson, Charles Dana
Mr. Peters, indeed, specifically described the Earl of Emsworth as an oily old second-story man.
From Something New by Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville)
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.
