ragpicker

American  

[rag-pik-er] / ˈrægˌpɪk ər /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of ragpicker

First recorded in 1855–60; rag ¹ + picker

Example Sentences

Employment: ragpicker, scrap metal dealer, entrepreneur, double agent.

From Time Magazine Archive

Embarrassed by the fall of his onetime classmate, "he" crushes the few hesitant attempts of the ragpicker and his wife to create a friendship.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was as frugal as a ragpicker, carefully kept a record of each shilling tip, constantly worried about money.

From Time Magazine Archive

Lou Gilbert isa gentle ragpicker on the Manhattan waterfront whose attempt to help a girl leads to his own destruction in Across the River.

From Time Magazine Archive

Never as the ditch-digger and ragpicker Mrs. Lapham was always suggesting to him.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes