rapparee

American  

[rap-uh-ree] / ˌræp əˈri /

noun

1. an armed Irish freebooter or plunderer, especially of the 17th century.

2. any freebooter or robber.

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rapparee British  

/ ˌræpəˈriː /

noun

1. an Irish irregular soldier of the late 17th century

2. obsolete any plunderer or robber

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Etymology

Origin of rapparee

First recorded in 1680–90, rapparee is from the Irish word rapaire

Example Sentences

No thimblerigging rapparee, No jobber in kidnappery No filcher I !

From Time Magazine Archive

Denis Ryan—th' ould rapparee, he wint afther us harrd—in that last case.

From The Luck of the Mounted A Tale of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police by Kendall, Ralph S.

"They were called Rapparees," Mr. Malone says, "from being armed with a half-pike, called by the Irish a rapparee."

From Rookwood by Ainsworth, William Harrison

"Well, indeed I ought, sir, to know them," replied Mogue, "and I believe I do; and talkin' of that, you have often heard of the great robber and rapparee, Shaun Bernha?"

From The Tithe-Proctor The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two by Carleton, William

I knew ut—I felt ut at th' toime—that shtinkin' rapparee av a hobo was lyin'—whin he said he did not renumber a harse bein' brought back.

From The Luck of the Mounted A Tale of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police by Kendall, Ralph S.