all-sorts drink also known as “dog’s-nose” or “swipes,” made from wringing out the cloths used to wipe the counters in dives and low groggeries
amusers operators who threw snuff or pepper in victims’ eyes; under the pretext of offering help, an accomplice then robbed them
anglers petty thieves who used hooked sticks or fishing lines through mailboxes or open windows to steal property or keys
badger man who, after his woman accomplice had lured a victim to her room for sex, would burst in posing as an irate husband and confront the victim, but then allow himself to be mollified with cash
bag of nails total confusion, like a shaken-up bag of nails
ballum-rancum ball at which all the dancers were criminals or prostitutes
barrel-boarder lowest kind of drunken sot (because they often slept draped over a barrel or on bare wooden boards)
bat streetwalker who worked at night (also known as an owl)
bedizened dressed in gaudy fashion
betting his eyes a punter who watches a game but doesn’t bet
Billingsgate swearing (after the foul language of the porters at London’s Billingsgate fish market)
billy club or bludgeon
blind pig; blind tiger illegal bar concealed behind an innocuous-looking storefront
blink shut your eyes to what is going on around you
boardinghouse the Tombs, or any prison
booster shoplifter
bounce evict with violence
bucket shop worst type of bar; a dive where beer was sold by the bucket
bufe dog
bufe-napper dog thief; rogue
bull cop
bull traps thieves who impersonated cops
bundle woman; girlfriend
bundle thief robber specializing in targeting women
cab brothel
cadet recruiter of prostitutes; pimp
cant thieves’ argot (also known as flash)
cap name; join in or assist with a job
capper confederate, especially one who makes false winning bets at cards to encourage victims to play
cherry young girl
chopped up stolen goods divided into smaller lots and hidden in different places
City College the Tombs
cold pig victim robbed of his clothes; a dead body
cop policeman (from the copper badges worn by the first police under Mayor Fernando Wood)
courtisans shyster lawyers, especially at the Tombs
cramped killed; murdered; hanged
crimps seamen’s boardinghouses, run by corrupt owners who would drug or blackjack their victims and sell them as crewmen to the captains of outward-bound ships
crow sentry
cut up turned out to be
cut up very fat turned out to be very rich
daylights eyes
dip, dipper pickpocket
dog’s-nose see all-sorts
doorman lookout
doubler a punch hard enough to make someone double up
drab disreputable woman; hag
dropper operator; part of a wallet-dropping gang
dustman dead man
earth-bath grave
elbow turn corner; get out of sight
facer brim-full glass; person who blocked pursuers of a criminal
fence receiver of stolen goods
flash, the thieves’ argot (also known as cant)
flat sucker; mark
floorer knockout punch
four-flusher a cheat, a bluffer (from a poker player who lays down four cards of the same suit, keeping his other card of a different suit half-hidden in the hope of persuading the other players that he has a flush)
Friday-face dismal (executions originally took place on Fridays)
gat gun
glim, glimmer eye
goads cappers
goo-goos reformers (derisive contraction of “good government”)
gorilla, guerilla enforcer, gang member
grafter con man; thief
groaners church and funeral thieves
groggery bar; dive
gropers blind men
gun pickpocket; thief (probably derived from the Yiddish gonif)
gun-moll woman pickpocket
hard metal
heeler operator, part of pocketbook gang, who trod on the heels of the victim to draw his attention to the dropped wallet that was the bait in the scam
high tide plenty of money
hog in armor blustering officeholder
hog in togs well-dressed idler
hoist steal by climbing through window
hook pickpocket; thief
hush-stuff bribe paid to a witness to buy silence
Island, the Blackwell’s (now Roosevelt) Island, especially the penitentiary
jammed killed; murdered; hanged
Jersey justice rough justice
jinglers coins
kettle pocket watch
kidsman a Fagin
kiting restless; on Wall Street, wild speculation
knockout drops chloral hydrate, or any drug that rendered the victim unconscious
knucks brass knuckles; pickpockets
lamp eye
layout faro or stuss term; the oilcloth or green baize on which one of each card, ace to king, is pasted; players placed their bets on the card of their choice before the pack was turned over
leather wallet
leg bail absconding while on bail
lighthouse lookout
long large price
low tide nearly broke
lush drink; a drunk
lush-roller, lush-worker thief preying on drunks
mab whore
mack pimp
moll woman
moll-buzzer pickpocket specializing in targeting women
moon month (usually describing imprisonment, e.g., “He’s gone to the Island for a moon”)
mosh eat and leave without paying
mount give false testimony
mounter one who gives false testimony
mugwump do-gooder
nailed arrested
nippers tool used by hotel thieves for turning keys from outside
nook-and-corner men thieves lurking in the shadows or obscure hiding places
office nonverbal signal or information
officer one giving nonverbal signals or information
on a/the string sending someone on a fool’s errand; flirting with or luring a sucker
on it easy and dishonest living, e.g., as a prostitute
owl night streetwalker (also known as a bat)
panel-crib place fitted with a sliding panel, false wardrobe, or other concealed opening or door for the robbery of a victim occupied with a prostitute
panel-thief one carrying out robberies in a panel-crib
peached turned police informer; squealed
penny-weighter sneak thief specializing in switching fake gems for real ones
picker-up roper-in, drawer of suckers to gambling dens, saloons, or brothels
piker one who bets very small amounts
pipe fiend opium smoker
poke pocketbook
prospecting looking for a victim or something to steal
rabbit rowdy person
rabbit-sucker young slummer
rag-water drink of all kinds, sometimes literally the wringings from the cloth used to wipe the bar
red gold; a cent
right bower right-hand man, derived from the name for the jack of trumps, the second-highest card in the game of euchre
rocked in a stone cradle born in prison
roped led on; led astray; tricked
roper-in drawer of suckers to gambling dens, saloons, or brothels
rounder one who hangs around stuss games but does not play
running through not allowing a sucker to win even a single bet
sachem Tammany boss (from a Native American term for a wise man or chief)
school gang of thieves
scratch cash; roll of bills not carried in a pocketbook; also, a line drawn in the middle of a boxing ring—anyone not “up to scratch” at the start of a round was ruled to have lost
second-story men men who broke into buildings through second-floor windows; the term could also carry an implication of cowardice: second-story men were too scared to climb higher, and too frightened of a confrontation with a house-owner to break in on the first floor
shady glim dark lantern
shanty black eye
sheeny Jewish thief; low thief
sheriff bouncer
side pocket saloon in out-of-the-way or unexpected place
sifting going through a purse or pocketbook
skin purse
skull head of the house; boss
slap down cash price of admission
slungshot type of blackjack; heavy weight contained in a leather or cloth sling
smoke lies told to conceal the truth
snake sly thief; one who hides in a building to let in his accomplices after dark
spit out free; remove
stalls accomplices who would get in the way of pursuers
stargazers prostitutes (because they spent most of their time on their backs)
start, old start the Tombs
stiff a corpse; but also anything printed
stun cheat
stuss also known as “Jewish faro,” a card game in which cards were dealt from a metal box, faceup, and placed on the “layout,” where the bets had been laid by gamblers betting on which card would be turned over next
swaddler “The End Is Nigh” type of street-corner speaker who drew a crowd so that his pickpocket accomplices could go to work
swipes see all-sorts
take the shine out lower someone’s self-esteem
tooth music enjoying a meal; good food
touch theft; proceeds of theft
trinkets knife and revolver
turf racecourse
up the spout pawned (from the spout or chute through which bulkier items were sent to a different floor of the pawnshop)
vampire blackmailer preying on “respectable” men who patronized prostitutes
Venus curse venereal disease
waxy light-fingered
weeding taking part of money or goods, but leaving enough to avoid arousing suspicion
whipped cheated; beaten
white slave trade prostitution
wind money
wire pickpocket
working the rattler carrying out robberies on streetcars
yegg burglar; safecracker