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a robber, especially a member of a gang or marauding band.
an outlaw or highwayman.
Informal.

a person who takes unfair advantage of others, as a merchant who overcharges; swindler; cheat.
a vendor, cab driver, etc., who operates a business or works without a required license or permit, and without observing the usual rules or practices.

Military Informal. an enemy aircraft, especially an attacking fighter.
make out like a bandit, Slang. to be extremely successful; profit greatly:
The early investors in the company have made out like bandits.
Contemporary Examples

She stormed off next door, where the business owner tried to chase Wislon off before the bandit squeezed off a round.
Post Office Robbers More Wanted Than ISIS M.L. Nestel December 12, 2014

One bandit came in the night to rob the couple, and shot at his wife when she exited the house.
The Nile: Where Ancient and Modern Meet William O’Connor June 20, 2014

After all, who has made out like a bandit since the 2008 economic collapse?
‘Hunger Games’ Is a Tea Party Dystopia Jay Michaelson December 4, 2013

Then, at just the right moment, the bandit struck, leaping onto the backs of athletes without warning.
Sherwin Shayegan, the Piggyback Bandit, Is the Bane of High School Games Winston Ross February 19, 2012

Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez was quick to chime in, dismissing her as a “bandit.”
GOP’s New Foreign Affairs Chair Ready to Play Hardball Sandra McElwaine February 19, 2011

Historical Examples

The bandit looked down in utter disgust at the cringing form.
The Bad Man Charles Hanson Towne

It was part of my plan, this meager manning of the bandit ship.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November, 1930 Various

But here you are, a bandit and an outlaw without being bad or tough—I don’t think you are, anyway.
The Lookout Man B. M. Bower

Sophie would report to the bandit—but she had not heard everything!
A Nest of Spies Pierre Souvestre

He said he thought we should not find the bandit business a paying industry, as a permanency, and that journalism might be.
The Story of the Treasure Seekers E. Nesbit

noun (pl) -dits, -ditti (-ˈdɪtɪ)
a robber, esp a member of an armed gang; brigand
n.

1590s, from Italian bandito (plural banditi) “outlaw,” past participle of bandire “proscribe, banish,” from Vulgar Latin *bannire “to proclaim, proscribe,” from Proto-Germanic *bann (see ban (v.)). *Bannire (or its Frankish cognate *bannjan) in Old French became banir-, which, with lengthened stem, became English banish.

noun

An enemy aircraft (WWII)
An aggressive homosexual who often resorts to violence (1970s+ Prison)

Related Terms

like a bandit, make out like a bandit, one-arm bandit