lunger

¹ American  

[luhng-er] / ˈlʌŋ ər /

noun

Informal.

1. a person who has chronic lung disease, especially tuberculosis.

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lunger ² American  

[luhn-jer] / ˈlʌn dʒər /

noun

1. a person or thing that lunges.

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Etymology

Origin of lunger¹

First recorded in 1890–95; lung + -er ¹

Origin of lunger²

First recorded in 1835–45; lunge ¹ + -er ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lunger

His father was a "lunger," and ex-professor from the East; his mother a vestal virgin dedicated to keeping the home fires burning.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Are you a lunger?" ejaculated one of them in astonishment, noting the light in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks.

From Sunny Slopes by Ethel Hueston

Seems the old man was a crackerjack boss machinist; but he got to monkeyin' with fool inventions, drifted from place to place, got to be a lunger, and finally passed in.

From Torchy by George Brehm

It's a lunger bound for the lakes, and some one gave him a twist as to the track an' we caught 'im.

From Joyce of the North Woods by Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa) Comstock

The mesa just like a big green table spread under the sky—what is it that lunger poet said—‘under the wide and starry sky’?

From Across the Mesa by Henry Clarence Pitz

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