fidlam ben

English

Noun

fidlam ben (plural fidlam bens)

  1. (thieves' cant, archaic) A thief.
    • 1834, Seba Smith, Charles Augustus Davis, John Clarke (of Philadelphia), The Life of Andrew Jackson, President of the United States: Illustrated with Numerous Cuts, page 122:
      Given them are fidlam-bens who want Beauty and Booty as the reward of their havin fag'd as many of you as dont pike off, bullets for their prog; and let me see that you are jonnok, when these shabbaroons of England attack you.
    • 2023 December 4, Bree Wolf, Sydney Jane Baily, Tracy Sumner, Charlie Lane, Fenna Edgewood, Jennifer Monroe, Meredith Bond, Naughty or Nice: A Holiday Regency Anthology, WOLF Publishing UG (haftungsbeschränkt), →ISBN:
      He could get sent to jail for breaking in like a thieving fidlam ben.
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