subs. (thieves’).—A housebreaker. See AREA-SNEAK, and (for synonyms) THIEVES.
1665. R. HEAD, The English Rogue, Pt. I. ch. v. (Repr. 1874), p. 50. MILKEN, One that Breaks houses.
1669. The Nicker Nicked, in Harleian Miscellany (ed. PARK), II., 108. MILLIKEN [in list of names of thieves].
1724. E. COLES, English Dictionary. MILKEN, o. a House-breaker.
1725. Old Ballad (in A New Canting Dictionary), ‘The Twenty Craftsmen.’
| The Fourth was a MILL-KEN, to crack up a Door, | |
| He’d venture to rob both the Rich and the Poor. |
1754. FIELDING, Jonathan Wild, bk. I. ch. v. The same capacity which qualifies a MILL-KEN, a bridle-cull, or a buttock-and-file to arrive at any degree of eminence in his profession would likewise raise a man in what the world esteem a more honourable calling.
1859. G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v.
