operator n.
1. a thief or swindler.
Rival Fools I i: I was in with all the top Gamesters, and when there was a fat Squire to be fleec’d, I had my Office among then too; and tho’ I say it, was one of the neatest Operators about Town. | ||
Nether Side of NY 21: Confidence-operators exist only because fools and their money can be easily parted. | ||
Mysteries and Miseries 57: He moved about with [...] a nervous quickness which at once proclaimed him a skillful operator. | [Arthur Pember]||
Pal Joey 79: She is a very smart little operator. | ||
Big Con 91: The insideman is almost always a better operator than the roper. | ||
Great Swindlers 92: In the end Henry was no longer a big operator. He was reduced to asking for small sums and telling even larger lies to procure them . |
2. the controller of a gambling game.
Sporting Mag. May XXIV 125/1: The operator, who deals the cards at faro, or any other cheating game. | ||
Confessions of a Twentieth Century Hobo 54: We watched for some time, but no one won a bet of any amount save the ‘operator’. | ||
AS XXIV:3 192: operator. The employee of a policy house who conducts the drawing. The term is frequently used also for an individual who owns a number gambling establishment. | ‘Argot of Number Gambling’ in||
(con. 1900-29) Big Bankroll 320: He operated a casual ‘floating’ game and this was one such. It is part of the code of gambling that, in a game such as this, the operator is technically the ‘host’ . |
3. (UK Und.) a pickpocket.
Tom and Jerry I iv: Dukes and dealers in queer – heavy plodders and operators – noblemen and yokels. | ||
Modern Flash Dict. | ||
Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open. |
4. (orig. US, also operative) a person who pursues success, often ruthlessly or manipulatively.
Lights & Shadows 285: The great operators plunder and destroy their lesser rivals without a feeling of remorse, and [...] blast the prospects and ruin the lives of scores whose greatest fault is an inability to oppose them successfully. | ||
North Amer. Rev. Jan. 157: An operator in Wall Street, and a professional gambler — he now dabbled in municipal politics much as he might have done in an exciting game of chance. | ||
In the Blood 100: At one time he was classed as an ‘operative,’ and as such possessed of the means of self-support. | ||
Runyon on Broadway (1954) 417: He is well known [...] as a very large operator in gambling. | ‘A Very Honorable Guy’ in||
(con. 1944) Naked and Dead 243: The whole thing was pathetic [...] Conn, the big operator. | ||
Junkie (1966) 125: There are big operators with political connections [...] usually police chiefs or other high officials. | ||
Awopbop. (1970) 41: By nature, he was an operator and he was always going to be successful. | ||
(con. 1960s) Black Gangster (1991) 90: He was what I call an operator – the leader who involves weak and dull boys in vice. | ||
A-Team Storybook 45: Those hick pomegranate farmers were no match for an operator like him. | ||
Indep. Rev. 23 June 11: A sleek operator [...] who goes through life falsely raising people’s hopes for the casual delight of watching them dashed. | ||
Indep. Rev. 2 Feb. 7: It makes me sound like a dodgy operator. | ||
Lush Life 79: Ike, he’s like the street mayor or something. A real operator . |
5. a major criminal.
Lights & Shadows 367: Whatever other foolishness they may commit, these adroit operators never kill the goose that lays their golden eggs. | ||
Men of the Und. 186: Izzay has no more to do with the big operators. | Confessions of a Rum-Runner in Hamilton||
Runyon on Broadway (1954) 398: A phenomenal record for an operator as extensive as Blondy. | ‘The Three Wise Guys’ in||
Asphalt Jungle in Four Novels (1984) 130: He was a very, very big operator. | ||
On the Waterfront (1964) 176: You were either a big operator [...] or a petty heister. | ||
Return of the Hood 41: Penny Stipetto had been on the verge of being a big time operator when he was knocked off. | ||
Inside the Und. 34: I [...] knew him for a good operator. | ||
Filth 140: Big operators flooding the city with smack. | ||
Observer Mag. 14 May 19: Smart operators like Cocky are only in it for the (huge amounts) of money. | ||
Last Whisper in the Dark 84: He was playing high-stakes poker [...] with Danny Thompson and the other big gun operators. |
6. (US) a private detective; an informer.
Courts, Criminals & the Camorra 112: There are in the city of New York [...] about one hundred and fifty licensed detectives. Under the detective license laws each of these [...] [may] employ as many ‘operators’ as he chooses. | ||
Little Sister 42: Going to a lone-wolf operator you never heard of. |
7. a successful seducer of women.
Nobody Lives for Ever 53: ‘[T]his dame’s loaded with money and Jim’s quite an operator. Suppose he marries her—then what?’. | ||
Man with the Golden Arm 109: He’d always been a swifter and surer operator with women than Frankie. | ||
Mr Love and Justice (1964) 71: Sharp operators! And the girls know? | ||
5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases. | ||
Show Business Laid Bare 188: give credit to men who are great operators, as we once called them, with the girls. | ||
(con. 1949) Big Blowdown (1999) 298: There’s gonna be plenty of girls. Plenty of girls for an operator like you. |
In compounds
(US teen) an unpopular individual.
Chicago Trib. Graphic Section 26 Dec. 7/1: Jive Talk [...] Drips. Sad Sam (or Sal). Cold potatoes. Junior jerk. Junior mess. Jerk of all trades. Dracula’s daughter. Sad specimen. Zombie. Black widow. Lead pipe. Light operator. |