peaky blinder
peaky blinder noun: 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.
Noun
peaky blinder (plural peaky blinders)
- 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.
- They return from camp with new boots, shirt, stockings and money; part of which is spent in excess on their first night's return after training and part goes to purchase a pair of “peaky blinder” trousers.1910, Robert Hall Best, William John Davis, Charles Perks, The Brassworkers of Berlin and of Birmingham: A Comparison, page 35
- In Birmingham the 'peaky-blinder' and 'slogger' gangs were particularly notorious.1984, Midland History - Volumes 9-12, page 108
- A peaked cap like that worn by a peaky blinder, especially when worn with the peak pulled down to the side of the head.
- So, in London, birds of a feather must flock together, willy nilly, silk hat and frock coat must go with white gloves and brown sables, “peaky blinder and “ choker " must associate with crop fringed hair, ear curls, and rakish three feathered hat.1899, The Puritan - Volume 5, page 206
- You could practically hear the rusty wheels whirring round beneath his black peaky blinder.1968, Maurice Wiggin, The Memoirs of a Maverick, page 30
- Any ruffian or street gang member.
- Probably the "hooligan" of London need not cost more to redeem than the " ike " of Manchester or the "peaky blinder" of Birmingham; the differences in expense lie in the method.1908, The Spectator - Volume 101, page 781
- Hundreds of girls and youths, mainly of the “ peaky blinder ” type, parade the streets—sometimes half a dozen arm-in-arm across the pavements.1914, Pharmaceutical Journal - Volume 37, page 262
Proper noun capitalized: Peaky Blinder
Peaky Blinders
- Alternative form of peaky blinder (“gang member”).
- In our suburban retreats, less disturbed by Peaky pranks, though now and again hedges, fences, and flower beds testify to a visit, we are too apt to think it is no concern of ours, or to assert that, as regards Peaky Blinders at any rate, " I am not my brother's keeper".1899, The Central Literary Magazine - Volume 14, page 72
- In other cities similar gangs were known by different names. In Birmingham they were called “Peaky Blinders' or 'Sloggers', while in Manchester and Salford they were known and feared as 'Scuttlers' and later as 'Ikes' or 'Ikey Lads'.1989, David M. Downes, Crime and the City: Essays in Memory of John Barron Mays, page 26
Forms of peaky blinder
| plural | peaky blinders |
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Origin of peaky blinder
From 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.
Questions about peaky blinder
- What does peaky blinder mean?
- Peaky blinder means 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.
- What part of speech is peaky blinder?
- Peaky blinder can be a noun or a proper noun.
- What is the plural of peaky blinder?
- The plural of peaky blinder is peaky blinders.
Words near peaky blinder in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: peaky blinder (page history and authors); Peaky Blinder (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “peaky blinder.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/peaky_blinder. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.