highbinder

== English == === Alternative forms === high-binder === Etymology === From the name of a nativist gang that flourished in New York City in the early 19th century, possibly an alteration of hide + binder. === Noun === highbinder (plural highbinders) (US, obsolete) A ruffian, especially one of a gang. (US, obsolete) A member of one of several Chinese criminal gangs associated with illegal immigration and prostitution. (US, dated) A swindler, especially a corrupt politician. === See also === hellbender === References === Paul A. Gilje (1987), The road to mobocracy: popular disorder in New York City, 1763-1834, Institute of Early American History and Culture (Williamsburg, Va.), page 130: “On Christmas Eve 1806, about fifty men, calling themselves Highbinders, gathered outside the Catholic church on ... These Highbinders, labeled by one newspaper "a desperate association of lawless and unprincipled vagabonds,"”