subs. (old).—A cheat; swindler; or hoaxer. [From CROSS-BITE, verb (q.v.), + ER.] Fr., un goureur.
1592. GREENE, The Blacke Bookes Messenger [part of title]. Laying open the Life and Death of Ned Browne, one of the most notable Cutpurses, CROS-BITERS, and Coney-catchers, that ever lived in England.
1669. The Nicker Nicked, in Harleian Miscellany (ed. PARK), II., 108, s.v.
1681. A Dialogue, etc., in Harleian Miscellany (ed. PARK), II., 126. I think nobody knows what he is; but I take him to be a CROSS-BITER.
