mudlark

[muhd-lahrk]

noun

Chiefly British. a person who gains a livelihood by searching for iron, coal, old ropes, etc., in mud or low tide.
Chiefly British Informal. a street urchin.
either of two black and white birds, Grallina cyanoleuca, of Australia, or G. bruijni, of New Guinea, that builds a large, mud nest.

verb (used without object)

to grub or play in mud.

Origin of mudlark

First recorded in 1790–1800; mud + lark¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mudlark

Historical Examples of mudlark

This was Captain Abersouth, formerly of the Mudlark—as good a seaman as ever sat on the taffrail reading a three volume novel.
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8
Ambrose Bierce
So I shipped as mate on the Mudlark, bound from London to wherever the captain might think it expedient to sail.
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8
Ambrose Bierce
On the voyage of which I write he had taken no cargo at all; he said it would only make the Mudlark heavy and slow.
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8
Ambrose Bierce
You wade along in this way step by step, like a mudlark at Portsmouth Hard, hoping gradually to regain the surface.
South!
Sir Ernest Shackleton
As a lad I slept with the rats, held horses, swept crossings and lived like a mudlark!
The Strollers
Frederic S. Isham

British Dictionary definitions for mudlark

mudlark

noun

slang, rare a street urchin
(formerly) one who made a living by picking up odds and ends in the mud of tidal rivers
Australian slang a racehorse that runs well on a wet or muddy course

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