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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

footpaddery en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /fʊtˈpæ.dɚˌɹi/ (US)

Etymology

From footpad + -ery.

Meanings

  1. (historical, uncountable) The crime of robbing travelers on the road.
    • Not just a little footpaddery, but robbery on the grand scale. 2001, Wilbur Smith, The Angels Weep, →ISBN:
    • Whilst descriptions of 'The West End Fair Gang', and freferences to the 'Captain of the Gan' John Henley, recall models of criminal confederacy evoked in earlier accounts of highway robbery and footpaddery, these events, wrapped as they were in the language of hustling, also reflect some of the newer concerns about public space in this period. 2015, Heather Shore, London's Criminal Underworlds, c. 1720 - c. 1930, →ISBN, page 78:
    • The smugglers were a lawless and desperate body, but they did not, as a rule, descend to footpaddery or robbery. 1889, Arthur Conan Doyle, Micah Clarke: