English · Idiom Historical

fire priggers

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Villains who rob at fires under pretence of assisting in removing the goods.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

kẻ trộm giả vờ giúp đỡ trong lúc hỏa hoạn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1811 (Georgian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, public domain; Project Gutenberg #5402, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Fire Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “fire priggers” mean?

Villains who rob at fires under pretence of assisting in removing the goods.

Is “fire priggers” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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