badge-cove
English
Noun
badge-cove (plural badge-coves)
- (archaic, thieves' cant) A parish pensioner. [18th-19th century]
- (obsolete) A licensed (badged) beggar. [16th-18th century]
- (Polari) An old person; a senior citizen.
References
- [Francis] Grose [et al.] (1811), “Badge-cove”, in Lexicon Balatronicum. A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence. […], London: Printed for C. Chappell, […], OCLC 23927885.
- “Badge coves” in Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors, A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant, volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: The Ballantyne Press, 1889–1890, page 63.