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A player on the harp; a minstrel. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks . . . Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. Longfellow.

s closely, especially, one who cheats in bargains; a swinder; also, a cheating gamester. Sharpers, as pikes, prey upon their own kind. L'Estrange.

Gait; bearing. The swing, the gait, the pose, the allure of these men. Harper's Mag.

s thrown back in its course, as water. Slackwater, or the backset caused by the overflow. Harper's Mag.

A sharper; one who cheats. [Slang] Johnson.

One who cheats; a sharper. [Colloq.] Spectator.

ng reckoning." B. & Fl. Bouncing Bet (Bot.), the common soapwort (Saponaria officinalis). Harper's Mag.

A sharper or pickpocket. [Obs. & Low] You filthy bung, away. Shak.

Chevalier d'industrie ( Etym: [F.], one who lives by persevering fraud; a pickpocket; a sharper. -- The Chevalier St. George (Eng. Hist.), James Francis Edward Stuart (son of James II.), called "The Pretender." -- The Young Chevalier, Charles Edward Stuart, son of the Chevalier St. George.

A flatterer or deceiver; a sharper.

A cheat; a sharper; a deceiver. [Obs.] Minsheu.

One who desecrates; a profaner. Harper's Mag.

, etc. He which hath the sharp sword with two edges. Rev. ii. 12. Slander, Whose edge is sharper than the sword. Shak.

Exploitation. Harper's Mag.

A foister; a sharper. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

A sharper; a rogue. [Obs.] J. Webstar.

To play on the harp. I heard the voice of harpers, harping with their harps. Rev. xiv. 2.

A player on the harp; a harper. W. Browne.

A female harper. [R.] Sir W. Scott.

t, one who gained his living by giving false evidence on trials, or false bail; hence, a sharper in general. Nares. "A knight of the post, . . . quoth he, for so I am termed; a fellow that will swear you anything for twelve pence." -- Nash. -- Knight of the shire, in England, one of the representatives of a county in…