or tartar, subs. (old cant).—A thief: spec. a strolling vagabond; ‘a sharper’ (B. E.).
1596. SHAKESPEARE, Merry Wives of Windsor, i. 5. 18. Here’s a Bohemian TARTAR.
c. 1600. The Merry Devil of Edmonton (Temple), i. 1. 10.
| There’s not a TARTARIAN, | |
| Nor a carrier, shall breathe upon your geldings. |
1640. The Wandering Jew, 3. And if any thieving TARTARIAN shall break in upon you, I will, with both hands, nimbly lend a cast of my office to him.
