gentleman of the road
Americannoun
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a highwayman.
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a tramp or hobo.
Etymology
Origin of gentleman of the road
First recorded in 1720–30
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.
Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett Mr Martin is as smooth as any gentleman of the road.
From The Guardian ● May 18, 2012
"Hand over your spondulics, young feller," said the second gentleman of the road.
From Struggling Upward, or Luke Larkin's Luck by Horatio Alger
And the truth is that Turpin was never a gentleman of the road at all!
From A Book of Scoundrels by Charles Whibley
He whistled under his breath at the discovery: if the pursuer was a "gentleman of the road" his predicament was indeed awkward.
From In Clive's Command A Story of the Fight for India by Herbert Strang
It has no past; no gentleman of the road ever robbed its passengers; no road-agent nowadays would think of ‘holding it up.’
From Vistas of New York by Brander Matthews
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.
