pickpocket

Definition

One who steals from the pocket of a passerby, usually by sleight of hand.

Etymology

From pick + pocket.

Example Sentences

• "Old men, young men, and boys, stalwart burglars and highway robbers, slept side by side with wizened pickpockets or cunning-featured area-sneaks."
• "For several days, Mr. Sammler returning on the customary bus late afternoons from the Forty-second Street Library had been watching a pickpocket at work […] Mr. Sammler if he had not been a tall straphanger would not with his one good eye have seen these things happening."