the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > picking pockets > pick pockets [verb (transitive)] > distract from or screen pickpocket (3)
transitive. To screen (a pickpocket or his operations) from observation; also with off. Also, to close up or surround and hustle (a person who is to…
to give (a person) gammon: to help (a thief) by distracting a victim while a crime is committed. Also to stand gammon in the same sense. Cf. sense…
Of a pickpocket's confederate: To screen the operations of (a principal).