or area-slum), subs. phr. (old).—A petty thief: spec. one working houses by means of an AREA-gate (GROSE): see SNEAK, SLUM, and THIEF.
1865. DICKENS, Our Mutual Friend (C.D. ed.), 104. Making me Guy Fawkes in the vault, and a SNEAK IN THE AREA both at once.
1869. English Mechanic and Mirror of Science, 14 May, 181, 1. Were the lot of the poacher cast in a large city, the leading type would infallibly become pickpockets or AREA-SNEAKS.
