[f. SWAP v. + -ER1.]
1. Something very big; a ‘whopper’; spec. a ‘thumping’ lie. slang or dial.
c. 1700. Kennett, MS. Lansd. 1033. Swapper, a great lie is called a swapper.
1715. M. Davies, Athen. Brit., I. Pref. 36. After they have confess’d their swappers to the Jesuits or some of the Regulars.
1818. Maginn, in Blackw. Mag., IV. 321. I’m a swapper, as every one knows, In my pumps six feet three inches high.
2. One who ‘swaps,’ exchanges or barters. slang or colloq.
1680. Reflect. on Late Libel, 28. The Author had … been Lecturer there at this day, (for he is no Starter, nor Shifter, nor Swapper of Livings).
a. 1700[?]. in S. de Vere, Americanisms (1872), 308. The headlong fool who wants to be a swopper Of gold and silver coin for English copper.
1893. Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, 14 Nov. In this case a man casting other than a straight ticket may be called a ‘trader’ or ‘swapper.’
