Nearby Words

cut-purse

[kuht-purs] Origin

cut·purse

[kuht-purs]
noun
1.
Older Use. a pickpocket.
2.
(formerly) a person who steals by cutting purses from the belt.

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English cutte-purs. See cut, purse
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Cut-purse is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

cutpurse
"one who steals by the method of cutting purses, a common practice when men wore their purses at their girdles" [Johnson], mid-14c., from cut (v.) + purse. The word continued after the method switched to picking pockets.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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