beadsman
Americannoun
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beadsmen
plural
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a person who prays for another as a duty, especially when paid.
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an inmate of a poorhouse; almsman.
noun
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a person who prays for another's soul, esp one paid or fed for doing so
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a person kept in an almshouse
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of beadsman
1200–50; bead's man man of prayer; replacing Middle English bedeman. See bead, 's 1, man
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The one lair, as a beadsman of Pittenweem, you may have experienced ere now; the other you stand in small fears of.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 7 by Various
Henry followed the beadsman, who hurried on towards Falconcleugh.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 7 by Various
"I ken that baith you and I are owre lang here," replied the beadsman, as he hurried out.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 7 by Various
Goddess, vouchsafe this aged man his right, To be your beadsman now, that was your knight.
From Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth by Aikin, Lucy
And, without even troubling himself to look over the quarry brink, the beadsman began his ordinary half-trotting pace; and in a short time Henry saw him, in the distance, making rapid progress over the heath.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 7 by Various
Behind the decrepit beadsmen came a long array of Canterbury canons, chaplains and dignitaries in all their robes, followed by pages carrying the maces of Canterbury and York and the cross of Canterbury.
From Time Magazine Archive
Behind the verger walked a cross-bearer, the Canterbury choristers and seven decrepit beadsmen.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sir Stephen Scroop, when telling Richard of Bolingbroke’s revolt, declares that “Thy very beadsmen learn to bend their bows Of double-fatal yew against thy state.”
From Folk-lore of Shakespeare by Thiselton-Dyer, Thomas Firminger
That its wood was certainly employed for making bows, we learn from Shakespeare:— "Thy very beadsmen learn to bend their bows Of double-fatal Yew against thy state."
From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by Fernie, William Thomas
Thy very beadsmen learn to bend their bows Of double-fatal Yew against thy state.
From The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare by Ellacombe, Henry Nicholson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
