verbal subs. (common).—Thieving. [In law, the act or practice of drawing up deeds, leases, etc., for transferring the title to property from one person to another. Cf., CONVEY, to steal.]
1865. MR. SMOLLETT, in House of Commons, 14 March. ‘Speech on the Nawab of the Carnatic.’ Pickpockets in London, when they appropriated purses or watches, called the transaction CONVEYANCING.
1889. Modern Society (quoted in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant), p. 269. The green youth who attempted to decamp with ——’s watch … was properly punished for his verdancy in the art of CONVEYANCING.
