beadsman
Americannoun
PLURAL
beadsmen-
a person who prays for another as a duty, especially when paid.
-
an inmate of a poorhouse; almsman.
noun
-
a person who prays for another's soul, esp one paid or fed for doing so
-
a person kept in an almshouse
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.
One of a class of paupers or pensioners, or licensed beggars, in Scotland, to whim annually on the king's birthday were distributed certain alms, including a blue gown; a beadsman.
From Project Gutenberg
Goddess! vouchsafe this aged man his right, To be your beadsman now that Was your knight.”
From Project Gutenberg
On the contrary, they are foreseen from the first: that of the beadsman in the lines,
From Project Gutenberg
"Ye're no the first nor the hundredth that has put that question to the beadsman," replied the other, as he looked up with a side-glance in the face of the questioner.
From Project Gutenberg
And so he wore a large blue gown, like that of a beadsman, which slipped over his head, and was bound by a belt round his middle, with a stout woollen shirt underneath.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
