wapping cove

From wap (“to engage in sexual intercourse”) + cove (“man”).

wapping cove (plural wapping coves)

1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) A man who frequently hires prostitutes.

• See Thesaurus:prostitute's client

• wapping dell (“prostitute”), wapping ken (“brothel”), wapping moll (“prostitute”), wapping mort (“prostitute”)

• John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1904) “wapping cove”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume VII, [London: […] Neill and Co.] […], →OCLC, pages 292–293.