Home UK English peterman

Meaning of peterman in English:

peterman

Pronunciation /?pi?t?m?n/

nounplural noun petermen

archaic

  • A thief or safe-breaker.

    • ‘It takes as long to train a bank robber as a doctor, going through the grades of look-out, getaway driver, peterman (safeblower) and, most highly skilled, the man who knows how to launder large quantities of notes.’

Origin

Early 19th century (denoting a thief who steals baggage from vehicles): from slang peter ‘a trunk or safe’ + man.