subs. (common).—A pistol or revolver; a spur or DIGGER (q.v.); a JEMMY (q.v.) or other burglar’s tool; the tongue.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. PERSUADERS … The kiddey clapped his PERSUADERS to his prad, but the traps boned him.
1841. LEMAN REDE, Sixteen-String Jack, ii. 4. Dra. [showing pistols.] I came in with my PERSUADER.
1886–96. MARSHALL, Une Affaire d’Honneur [‘Pomes,’ 110]. With finger nails she soon was going strong; As PERSUADERS they were nobby, for it seems it was her hobby To invariably wear them rather long.
