subs. phr. (American).—A bully; a rowdy: spec. a gambling tout.
1858. New York Tribune, 30 Sept. A band of SHOULDER-HITTERS and ballet-box stuffers.
1871. DE VERE, Americanisms, 319. In the West a striker is not only a SHOULDER-HITTER, as might be suspected, but a runner for gambling establishments, who must be as ready to strike down a complaining victim as to ensnare an unsuspecting stranger.
1874. New York Commercial Advertiser, 9 Sept. So long as substantial citizens choose to leave politics to SHOULDER HITTERS, rum-sellers and bummers of every degree, so long will they be robbed at every turn.
1886. G. A. SALA [Illustrated London News, 19 June, 644]. A certain variety of the New York rough is a SHOULDER-HITTER.
