Brewer's: Cutpurse

Now called “pickpocket.” The two words are of historical value. When purses were worn suspended from a girdle, thieves cut the string by which the purse was attached; but when pockets were adopted, and purses were no longer hung on the girdle, the thief was no longer a cutpurse, but became a pickpocket.

“To have an open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, is necessary for a cutpurse.” —Shakespeare: Winter's Tale, iv 3.

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