scampsman
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]scampsman (plural scampsmen)
- (dated, slang) highwayman
- 1834, William Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood, The Game of High Toby:
- Now Oliver puts his blank nightcap on,¶ And every star its glim is hiding,¶ And forth to the heath is the scampsman gone,¶ His matchless cherry-black prancer riding;
- 1846, James Henry, ed. Dixon, “The Trotting Horse”, in Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, page 244:
- Up comes some saucy kiddy, a scampsman on the hot, / But ere he pulls the trigger I am off just like a shot.
Synonyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:highwayman