slang. A thimble-rigger.
1859. Sala, Tw. round Clock (1861), 160. ‘Charley-pitchers,’ the knavish gentry who pursue the games of ‘under seven or over seven,’ ‘red, black, leather and star,’ or inveigle the unwary with ‘three little thimbles and one small pea.’
1877. Besant & Rice, Son of Vulc., I. ix. 100. ‘Charley-pitcher,’ who gained an honourable livelihood with the thimble and the pea.
