Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. pickpocket jargon) to steal money; thus reef a leather, to steal a wallet by pulling out the lining of the pocket that contains it.

1859		Matsell Vocabulum 73: ‘Reefing up into work,’ drawing up the pocket until the purse or portmonnaie is within reach of the fingers.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 92/1: Now or never, thought I, and leaning over I ‘reefed’ up his ‘leather,’ which I instantly handed to Joe.
1886		A. Pinkerton Thirty Years a Detective 45: He inserts the first two fingers of his right hand [...] he draws the pocket-book up little by little, which is known as ‘reefing’ [...] the moment he is able to take hold of the pocket-book – called ‘tapping,’ he quietly calls out ‘Rouse!’ the victim receives a rough push from the stalls – and out comes the pocket-book.
1899		J. Flynt Tramping with Tramps 395: To reef a leather means that the pickpocket pulls out the lining of a pocket containing the ‘leather’.
1904		Number 1500 Life In Sing Sing 252: Reef. To work lining of pocket to top of opening.
1914		Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 69: reef [...] To lift a pocket lining or an obstacle in the form of wearing apparel by methodical manner to expedite the operations of the ‘wire’.
1924		G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 43: He may ‘reef’ the victim’s clothes by thrusting one finger into the pocket and dragging out the purse.
1930		(con. 1910s) D. Mackenzie Hell’s Kitchen 43: Hours are spent in ‘reefing’ [...] It is a delicate operation and one that often requires considerable time to accomplish.
1935		Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Reefing: Turning trousers pocket inside out with two fingers.
1949		L. Glassop Lucky Palmer 58: I’m going to reef the dough off those bookies till it hurts.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 191: reef a breech To lift a purse [...] reef a kick To pick a pocket by gently pulling out the lining [...] reef a leather To pick a pocket of a purse [...] reef a ticker To pick a pocket of a watch.
1959		Baker Drum.
1963		(con. 1944) L. Glassop Rats in New Guinea 17: Look out [...] or he’ll reef twenty quid off you like steam.
1982		J. Davis Dreamers 129: I can reef your money off you any day, mate.
2003		Advertiser (Adelaide) 10 Dec. 17: How kind to give back some of the money he reefed off us in GST [Goods and Services Tax].

2. (Irish) to gouge out, to attack, to remove forcibly (of a person or thing); as n., a kick.

1966		P. Boyle At Night All Cats Are Grey 76: Who’s going to lash porter into a Metal Man who’ll turn and reef you at the finish.
1967		K. Tennant Tell Morning This 281: [A]nyone who was reefing down a bit of lightning conductor to make an aerial.
1968		J. Alard He who Shoots Last 48: Make yaseIves at home—I’ll reef the sculls orf a couple of bottles.
1979		H. Leonard A Life (1981) Act I: It’s me ma ... she’ll reef me.
1985		R.G. Barrett You Wouldn’t Be Dead for Quids (1989) 122: I suppose I shouldn’t have reefed you in the Niagaras like that.
1991		R.G. Barratt ‘Law is a Dope’ in What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] [A]ll your clothes get reefed out of your wardrobe, they go through all your personal things.
1998		J. O’Connor Salesman 294: But don’t try anythin’ smart or I’ll fuckin’ reef you round the gaff, I swear to Christ.
2004		T. Winton ‘Abbreviation’ in Turning (2005) 24: The girl reefed off her shirt.

3. (Irish) to criticize, to tell off.

1966

P. Boyle At Night All Cats Are Grey 179: I watched her grow old again and the edge creep into her voice and I wondered could I get away before she started reefing me.

4. (gay) to fondle someone’s genitals.

1962		R. Hauser Homosexual Society Appendix 3, 167: Reef, feel.
1982		Maledicta VI:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 140: Hauser hits upon some words later found in The Queens’ Vernacular such as […] reef and grope (feel up).
1988		(ref. to 1930s) S. Humphries Secret World of Sex 40: John Binns remembers [...] If you boasted that you’d made love to a girl [...] you’d say ‘I had a bit of kife there.’ If you’d felt a girl’s breasts you’d say ‘I had a good reef.’ And if you’d felt her down below you’d say ‘I got a handful of sprats’.
2019		P. Baker Fabulosa 297/1: reef to feel, especially to feel the genitals of a person.
2023		R. Milward Man-Eating Typewriter 113: Our lovemaking would be all the more rampant and luminous if we resisted reefing one another until lights-out.