To NIM,
or whip off or away any thing; To Num a Togeman, to steal a Cloack. To Nim a Cloak, to cut off the Buttons in a Crowd, to whip it off a Man's Shoulders.
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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).