Early American Crime

ambush

– fraudulent weights and measures used by grocers, coal-dealers, etc.

The term is a pun on the formal definition of the word: to lie in wait (lying weight).

Sources:

• Barrère, Albert and Charles G. Leland. A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, and Cant. [London]: The Ballantyne Press, 1889.
• Partridge, Eric. A Dictionary of the Underworld. New York: Bonanza Books, 1961.

Note: See “Cant: The Language of the Underworld” to learn more about the background of the American Malefactor’s Dictionary.