Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to wound; thus creasing n.

1897		A.H. Lewis Wolfville 48: So Tutt outs with his gun and gets Boggs in the leg [...] Boggs gets creased.
1918		E.G. Dodd diary 21 Aug. 🌐 16th came in today. Some of them were in a very bad condition, they had a proper creasing up on the road up.
1922		P.A. Rollins Cowboy 57: The rifle, rarely the pistol, was at times discharged at wild horses [...] for the purpose of ‘creasing’ them.
1934		O. Strange Sudden 121: Yore bullet creased him, an he fell into the long grass on the rim.
1940		O. Strange Sudden Takes the Trail 70: ‘But – I killed yu.’ ‘Skittles! It was a pore shot – on’y creased me.’.

2. to kill; thus as n., a killing; also in fig. use.

1900		Marvel 8 Dec. 29: Seems ter me ’bout half ther crowd’s been creased, an’ is jest waiting for ther bone-pit.
1922		‘J.H. Ross’ Mint (1955) 145: Cunninghame threatened, last thing, to crease us tomorrow.
1938		J. Curtis They Drive by Night 112: ‘Done a murder, has he?’ [...] ‘Yus. Creased a tart.’.
1943		R. Llewellyn None But the Lonely Heart 113: Let’s get out of this here wind. Creasing me, it is.
1950		P. Hoskins No Hiding Place! 190/1: Crease him. Kill him.
1952		W.R. Burnett Little Men, Big World 128: This is the kind of crease you read about, but seldom see.
1975		E. Brady All in! All in! 24: Just wait till you’re got in! You’re going to be creased! killed! massacred!
1988		R. Doyle Commitments 95: Get up there an’ clap or I’ll fuckin’ crease yis.
1990		R. Doyle Snapper 79: I’ll crease the fucker.
2000		J. Hawes Dead Long Enough 242: I did not hear exactly what he was saying, but it included the terms ‘ya fucking bollix’ and ‘I’ll crease you, you cunt’.

3. to beat severely.

1956		J. Blake letter 22 Dec. in Joint (1972) 101: Freddy automatically tried to crease him.
1979		H. Leonard A Life (1981) Act I: Your da used to crease you.
2000		(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad.

4. to harm, to spoil; also in fig. use.

1998

G. Burn Happy Like Murderers 351: So, although it creased him to, he allowed it.