purse-cuttern.
/ˈpəːsˌkʌtə/, U.S. /ˈpərsˌkədər/ Now rare.
A thief who cuts purses in order to take their contents; a cutpurse.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > pickpocket or cutpurse > [noun] > cut-purse
cutpurse1362
purse-carverc1380
purse-cuttera1500
knight of the knife1631
tear-placketa1640
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 291 (MED) Thise cokkers and thise bollars And all purs-cuttars, Bese well war of thise men.
c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) 697 Tyburne coloppys and pursekytters.
?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. B.vjv Players, purse cutters money baterers.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Saccularius,..a purse cutter.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre iii. v. 42 in Wks. II It is a gentle admonition, you must know, Sir, both to the purse-cutter, and the purse-bearer.
1652 Extracts Rec. in W. Chambers Charters Burgh Peebles (1872) 396 James Campbell purs cutter to stand at the croce..bound with a tow to the stalk of the croce.
1690 C. Ness Compl. Hist. & Myst. Old & New Test. I. 346 The purseless traveller fears not the purse-cutter.
1787 J. Adams Def. Constit. Govt. U.S.A. xxxiii. 193 Where there are poor [people], there are somewhere concealed thieves, and purse-cutters,..and workers of all other evils.
1856 Q. Rev. 99 188 All the tricks of card-sharpers, ring-droppers, purse-cutters, &c., are centuries old.
1881 W. Besant & J. Rice Chaplain of Fleet II. i. 11 The streets..are for the most part secure even from footpads and purse-cutters.
1928 R. R. Darlington in W. Malmesbury Vita Wulfstani Introd. p. xlix A magnate ridiculed to the bishop the saint who could not protect his pilgrims from purse-cutters.
2006 Cornwall (Ont.) Standard Freeholder (Nexis) 6 Apr. 19 This highly illegal conglomeration of pickpockets and purse-cutters now has their own society hiding in the shadows.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1500