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mudlark

[ muhd-lahrk ]

noun

  1. Chiefly British. a person who gains a livelihood by searching for iron, coal, old ropes, etc., in mud or low tide.
  2. Chiefly British Informal. a street urchin.
  3. 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)

  1. to grub or play in mud.

mudlark

/ ˈmʌdˌlɑːk /

noun

  1. slang.
    a street urchin
  2. (formerly) one who made a living by picking up odds and ends in the mud of tidal rivers
  3. 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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of mudlark1

First recorded in 1790–1800; mud + lark 1
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Example Sentences

As a lad I slept with the rats, held horses, swept crossings and lived like a mudlark!

You wade along in this way step by step, like a mudlark at Portsmouth Hard, hoping gradually to regain the surface.

This was Captain Abersouth, formerly of the Mudlark—as good a seaman as ever sat on the taffrail reading a three volume novel.

So I shipped as mate on the Mudlark, bound from London to wherever the captain might think it expedient to sail.

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.

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