Lifer, subs. (thieves’).—1. See quot. 1838. Also, a lag (q.v.) for
life. Fr. un fagot à perte de vue; un bonnet vert à perpète.
1838. Dickens, Oliver Twist, xliii. ‘If they don’t get any fresh
evidence, it’ll only be a summary conviction, and we shall have him
back again after six weeks or so; but, if they do, it’s a case of
lagging. They know what a clever lad he is; he’ll be a lifer.
They’ll make the Artful nothing less than a lifer.’ ‘What do yer
mean by lagging and a lifer?’ demanded Mr. Bolter.... Being
interpreted, Mr. Bolter would have been informed that they
represented that combination of words, ‘transportation for life.’
1885. Ency. Brit., xix. 756. Lifers cannot claim any remission, but
their cases are brought forward at the end of twenty years.
1892. Hume Nisbet, p. 266. ‘He has money enough, I am sure, raking
in the thousands as he does.’ ‘So he has, and so have many old
lifers.’