guttersnipe
[guht-er-snahyp]
noun
a person belonging to or characteristic of the lowest social group in a city.
a street urchin.
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RELATED WORDS
vagrant, derelict, beggar, urchin, orphan, waif, tramp, tatterdemalion, bum, vagabond, loafer, hobo, wastrel, gamin, scarecrow, down-and-out, bankrupt, dependent, suppliant, mendicant
Nearby words
- gutter ball,
- gutter fracture,
- gutter press,
- gutter wound,
- guttering,
- guttiform,
- guttle,
- guttural,
- gutturalize,
- gutturalized
Origin of guttersnipe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for guttersnipe
guttersnipe
noun
Word Origin for guttersnipe
C19: originally a name applied to the common snipe (the bird), then to a person who gathered refuse from gutters in city streets
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
guttersnipe
also gutter-snipe, 1857, from gutter (n.) + snipe (n.); originally Wall Street slang for "streetcorner broker," attested later (1869) as "street urchin," also "one who gathers rags and paper from gutters." As a name for the common snipe, it dates from 1874 but is perhaps earlier.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper