screwsman slang.
(ˈskruːzmən)
[f. screw n. + man n.: after cracksman, etc.]
A thief; a house-breaker, a burglar; also, a safe-breaker.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. Mem. 1819 II. 204 Screws⁓man, a thief who goes out a screwing. 1879 [see dead a. A. 18 b]. 1910 Dundee Advertiser 8 Jan. 7, I believe you are a ‘screwsman’. Where's the jemmy and the ‘twirls’? 1928 Daily Express 19 Sept. 1/5 When released he came to London, and was among those whom the police call ‘screws men’, who break into houses to steal articles easily sold. 1936 [see dragging vbl. n.]. 1955 P. Wildeblood Against Law iii. 137 Suppose there's some screwsman that the law's got an eye on. 1963 ‘J. Prescot’ Case for Hearing iii. 49 What does our imaginary screwsman do? He gets his hands on the keys..to take impressions. 1976 J. O'Connor Eleventh Commandment iv. 63, I took up my old profession of being a screwsman again. |