subs. (old).—A pickpocket. [From the practice of wearing a sheath of horn to protect the thumb in cutting out.] See THIEVES.
1569. PRESTON, Cambyses (DODSLEY, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1874, iv., 235).
| But cousin, because to that office ye are not like to come, | |
| Frequent your exercises, a HORN ON YOUR THUMB, | |
| A quick eye, a sharp knife, at hand a receiver. |
1614. JONSON, Bartholomew Fair, ii. I mean a child of the HORN-THUMB, a babe of booty, boy, a cut-purse.
1614. GREENE, A Looking-Glass for London and England [DYCE], p. 138. I cut this from a new-married wife by the help of a HORN-THUMB and a knife,—six shillings, four pence.
