Dictionary

scampsman en · NOUN

Etymology

From scamp + -s- + man.

Meanings

1. (dated, slang) highwayman
   • Now Oliver puts his blank nightcap on,¶ And every star its glim is hiding,¶ And forth to the heath is the scampsman gone,¶ His matchless cherry-black prancer riding; 1834, William Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood, The Game of High Toby:
   • Up comes some saucy kiddy, a scampsman on the hot, / But ere he pulls the trigger I am off just like a shot. 1846, James Henry, ed. Dixon, “The Trotting Horse”, in Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, page 244:

Forms