subs. phr. (old).—A prostitute and her companion; sometimes BULK AND FILE: occasionally, BUTTOCK AND FILE = an individual who is both thief and whore.
1671. R. HEAD, The English Rogue, I., v., 48 (1874). BULK AND FILE, the Pickpocket and his mate.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew. BUTTOCK AND FILE, c. both Whore and Pickpocket.
1754. FIELDING, Jonathan Wild, I., v. The same capacity which qualifies a mill-ben, a bridle-cull, or a BUTTOCK AND FILE to arrive at any degree of eminence in his profession would likewise raise a man in what the world esteems a more honourable calling.
1811. GROSE and CLARKE, Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. BUTTOCK AND FILE. A common whore and a pickpocket.
