poor boy

American  

noun

1. Southern U.S. (chiefly Gulf States). a hero sandwich.

---

Regional Use

See hero sandwich.

Etymology

Origin of poor boy

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

poor boy

Kundanlal's life reads like an epic: a poor boy from Ludhiana, married at 13, who sold everything from timber and salt to lab gear and bullock-cart wheels.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2025

In his campaign announcement, Santos didn’t mention any of that and instead highlighted his zeal in fighting for conservative principles in Washington and his background as “a poor boy of immigrant parents in Queens.”

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2023

There’s no quiz show in “Age of Vice,” but there is a poor boy who slides through a backdoor into a demimonde of degraded sophisticates.

From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2023

Vladimir Putin learned his brutal code of war in the “sandpit streets” of Leningrad when he was a poor boy of perhaps 7 and got into his first fight with a neighborhood gang.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 5, 2022

"She's quite a remarkable young woman, you know. Raising that poor boy all on her own."

From "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---