Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an assistant bailiff.

1832

Satirist (London) 25 Nov. 384/2: I was myself tapped by a queer looking Israelitish prig [...] attended by a lurcher of the cad genus, under whose surveillance I was conveyed to Cripplegate within [...] I was taken, nolens volens, that day / By an arrest.

2. (Aus.) a rascal, a villain.

1888		Daily News 4 Dec. n.p.: After that shall try on the lazy lurchers who live on unfortunates [F&H].
1906		E. Dyson Fact’ry ’Ands 160: It shows what they are — lurchers ’n’ rats, the lot iv ’em.
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 44: LURCHER: A larrikin or street hoodlum.
1955		N. Pulliam I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 235/2: lurcher a rowdy.

3. (Ulster) one who lurks around waiting for an advantage to present itself.

1997

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