dogrobber

Noun

dog robber (plural dog robbers)

1. (derogatory, obsolete) A contemptible person, especially one who steals scraps of food.
   • Get out of my daylight, you dog-robber, or I'll walk the little horse around your neck like a three-ringed circus.1900, McClure's Magazine - Volume 15
2. (obsolete) A menial; a low-level servant.
   • If they would hire me for a dog-robber (a low menial), I would do it for a dime a day," he muttered, " just for the chance to hear them talk.1888, Felix Leopold Oswald, The Bible of Nature; Or, The Principles of Secularism, page 87

   Synonyms:

   dogsbody

3. (slang) An officer's orderly or servant; a factotum; Someone whose job is to run errands for an officer.
   • He had detailed from his company a jovial Irish lad as orderly — the regular army name for the position is dog-robber.1892, Stanton P. Allen, Down in Dixie: Life in a Cavalry Regiment in the War Days, from the Wilderness to Appomattox, page 488
4. (slang) One whose role is to acquire scarce goods, from military equipment to liquor or perfume, often staying barely within the letter of the law.
   • Trading "enemy flags" for weapons proved to be an effective way of fulfilling some of the requirements, but the dog robber was still using his talents to obtain the more difficult to find items.1999, Kregg P. J. Jorgenson, The ghosts of the highlands: 1st Cav LRRPs in Vietnam, 1966-67, →ISBN, page 73
5. (in plural, slang) Civilian clothing; mufti.
   • My friend led the way, clad in his jodhpurs, on his trusty black stallion, and I followed, wearing 'dog-robbers' — both of us with haversacks containing our gear for a Spanish weekend.1959, Naval Review (London), volume 47, page 335