A FILCH,
a Staff, with a Hole thro' and a Spike at the Bottom, to pluck Cloaths from a Hedge or any thing out of a Casement.
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Entry taken from 1736 Canting Dictionary, by Nathan Bailey.
The Vulgar Tongue originally collected by Grose, 1811.
Also see examples in Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes collected by John S. Farmer (1896).