Yegg

Definitions

A person who breaks open safes; a burglar.

slang

Equivalents

Examples

“1904, Edwin S. Porter (director), Capture⟳ of the ‘Yegg’ Bank Burglars”

“She was frankly disappointed. For some reason⟳ she had expected to discover⟳ a burglar of one or another accepted type⟳—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven, burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.”

“‘These racketeers are a new type⟳. We think⟳ about them the way we think⟳ about old time yeggs or needled-up punks.’”

CEFR level