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
The perfectly correct gentleman of the road never has a 'gang'.
From Boy Scouts on the Great Divide or, The Ending of the Trail by Fletcher, Archibald Lee
His gig was stopped on his way back, on Hounslow Heath, by a gentleman of the road.
From The Bath Road History, Fashion, & Frivolity on an Old Highway by Harper, Charles G. (Charles George)
I know a man, a gentleman of the road.
From Romance by Conrad, Joseph
"Hand over your spondulics, young feller," said the second gentleman of the road.
From Struggling Upward, or Luke Larkin's Luck by Alger, Horatio
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.
