A childish game. He plays at hide and seek; a saying of one who is in fear of being arrested for debt, or apprehended for some crime, and therefore does not chuse to appear in public, but secretly skulks up and down. See Skulk.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Hickey * HideboundNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes