ragpicker

[rag-pik-er]

noun

1. a person who picks up rags rag and other waste material from the streets, refuse heaps, etc., for a livelihood.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ragpicker¹

First recorded in 1855–60; rag ¹ + picker

Example Sentences

Her grandmother was a ragpicker, sifting through refuse for reusable material.

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These include those working in farms and fields in rural areas, as well as children who work as ragpickers in cities or sell balloons, pens and other knick-knacks at traffic lights.

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It would be an unheard-of luxury for the ragpicker or street vendor who lives day to day.

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The ragpicker of Brooklyn works out of a 750-square-foot storefront a few blocks east of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, down a mostly residential side street in Williamsburg, where Hasidim and hipsters mix.

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“We feel it,” said Islam, 59, who makes a living mainly as a ragpicker.

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