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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Chevalier d'industrie

Chevalier \Che`va*lier"\, n. [F., fr. LL. caballarius. See Cavaller.]

  1. A horseman; a knight; a gallant young man. ``Mount, chevaliers; to arms.''
    --Shak.

  2. A member of certain orders of knighthood.

    Chevalier d'industrie[F.], one who lives by persevering fraud; a pickpocket; a sharper.

    The Chevalier St. George (Eng. Hist.), James Francis Edward Stuart (son of James II.), called ``The Pretender.''

    The Young Chevalier, Charles Edward Stuart, son of the Chevalier St. George. [1913 Webster] ||

Wiktionary
chevalier d'industrie

n. (context dated English) One who lives by fraud; a pickpocket; a sharper.

Usage examples of "chevalier d'industrie".

Carney, being a Chevalier d'Industrie, had a keen nose for oblique enterprises, but up to the present he had enjoyed the little man's chatter simply because he loved horses himself.