peaky blinder
A member of the Peaky Blinders gangA member of the Peaky Blinders gang. They operated in Birmingham from the end of the 19th century until after the First World War. Gang members had a distinctive appearance: close-cropped hair, bell-bottomed trousers, peaked caps, and a white scarf knotted at the throat.
Meaning
3 senses(historical)A member of the Peaky Blinders gang. They operated in Birmingham from the end of the 19th century until after the First World War. Gang members had a distinctive appearance: close-cropped hair, bell-bottomed trousers, peaked caps, and a white scarf knotted at the throat.
Any ruffian or street gang member.
(archaic)A peaked cap like that worn by a peaky blinder, especially when worn with the peak pulled down to the side of the head.
Origin
From the name of a street gang in Birmingham, the Peaky Blinders, who got their name FromFrom the name of a street gang in Birmingham, the Peaky Blinders, who got their name From the peaked caps their members wore, and from blinder (“exceptional performance”) or from the practice of pulling a victims hat over his eyes so that he could not identify his attacker. There is a folk etymology claiming the "blinder" part of the name comes from the practice of stitching razor blades or weights into the peak of the cap and using it as a weapon to blind one's opponent, but this has been shown to be apocryphal.
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Forms
plural: peaky blinders| Singular | peaky blinder |
|---|---|
| Plural | peaky blinders |
regular