second-story man

American  

noun

1. a burglar who enters through an upstairs window.

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Etymology

Origin of second-story man

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

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

“Besides,” he said peaceably, “I’m all dressed up pretty now, and it doesn’t look right for a respectable member of society to be pulling off second-story man stunts.”

From The Bandbox by Vance, Louis Joseph

Twice a day, during the last ten days, the wiry little ferret-faced second-story man had got away with at least one can from the prison commissary.

From O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1921 by Marshall, Edison

"Who was the pop-eyed second-story man with the bald head and the convex waistcoat who glued himself to me to-night?"

From The Coming of Bill by Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville)

Sam was no second-story man; he worked on the ground floor in broad daylight.

From Otherwise Phyllis by Gibson, Charles Dana