Snatcher, subs. (old).—A thief: spec. a camp-follower. Snatch-*cly = a pickpocket (Grose).
1599. Shakspeare, Hen. V., i. 2. We do not mean the coursing snatchers only.
1820. Scott, Monastery, i. They would have fallen a speedy prey to some of the snatchers in the neighbourhood.
See Bodysnatcher.
Snatch-pastry, subs. phr. (Halliwell).—A
greedy fellow.
Snavel, verb. (old).—To steal:
spec. by snatching or picking
(q.v.): cf. snabble (Bee) and
see Running snavel.
Sneak, subs. (common).—A petty
thief: also sneak-thief, sneaking-budge,
and sneaksman:
see quot. 1819, area-sneak, and
cf. ramp and rush. Hence
morning-sneak = an early
bird (q.v.); evening-sneak =
a night thief; upright sneak =
a thief preying on potboys (B. E.,
Grose and Vaux). As verb. =
to pilfer, to steal: spec. 'to walk
about undefinedly, to see what
may be picked up' (Bee);
sneaking on the lurk (or on
the sneak) = prowling for booty.
1744. Fielding, Jonathan Wild. Wild . . . looked upon borrowing . . . as . . . the genteelest kind of sneaking-budge. Ibid. (1751), Amelia, i. 3. I find you are some sneaking-budge rascal.
1819. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v. Sneak. The sneak is the practice of robbing houses or shops, by slipping in unperceived, and taking whatever may lay most convenient; this is commonly the first branch of thieving, in which young boys are initiated, who, from their size and activity, appear well adapted for it. To sneak a place, is to rob it upon the sneak. A sneak is a robbery effected in the above manner. One or more prisoners having escaped from their confinement by stealth, without using any violence, or alarming their keepers, are said to have sneak'd 'em, or given it to 'em upon the sneak.
1829. Life and Death of James Wilson. That awful monster, William Burke, Like Reynard sneaking on the lurk.
1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, iii. v. Until at last there was none so knowing, No such sneaksman or buz-gloak going.
1897. Marshall, Pomes, 31. My 'Arry sneaks my cady on the sly. Ibid., 32. The elder of the twain Had . . . sneaked a quid. Ibid., 107. Strictly speaking, it was sneaking (He preferred the term 'convey').
1899. Whiteing, John St., v. They ain't no class . . . Fancies theirselves burglars—Nothin' o' the sort—sneak thieves.
1902. Lynch, High Stakes, xx. I believe it will be best . . . to keep to the sneak-thief theory.
2. (thieves').—See quot.
1873. Greenwood, In Strange Company. Sneaks . . . are shoes with canvas tops and india-rubber soles.
3. (cricketers').—A ground ball having no pitch whatever; a daisy-trimmer (or cutter); grub; or undergrounder (q.v.).
Sneakbill. See Sneaksby.
Sneak-cup, subs. phr. (old).—One
who shies his drink: hence, a
paltry fellow: also sneak-up.
1598. Shakspeare, 1 Hen. IV., iii. 3. How? The prince is a Jack, a sneak-cup.
Sneaker, subs. (old).—1. A small
bowl (B. E. and Grose): e.g., a
sneaker of punch.
2. (cricketers').—A sneak, subs. sense 3.
Sneaking, adj. (colloquial).—Unavowed;
undemonstrative: e.g.,
a 'sneaking kindness' ('liking,'
or 'preference').
1753. Richardson, Grandison, i. 290. You, my dear, shall reveal to me your sneaking passion, if you have one, and I will discover mine.
