(person) by pukesick Fri Mar 17 2000 at 11:49:05
A thief or racketeer; A ruffian who works for a living. "Some little punk working for a bank just took a powder (fled) with two hundred G's ($200,000), and all the hoods are trying to beat the dicks (police) snatching him."

- american underworld dictionary - 1950
I like it!