shaveling

[sheyv-ling]

noun

Older Use: Disparaging. a clergyman with a shaven or tonsured head.

a young fellow; youngster.

Nearby words

Origin of shaveling

First recorded in 1520–30; shave + -ling¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shaveling

What if Count Hannibal were behind, were even now mounting the stairs, prepared to force her to a marriage before this shaveling?
Count Hannibal|Stanley J. Weyman
Here, fellow, run this shaveling priest through with thy sword, quick!
The Last of the Vikings|John Bowling
I don't care what a shaveling says: so I mean just to go and wish, and I won't sacrifice anything.
The Gold Of Fairnilee|Andrew Lang
The Baron was fairly satisfied, and muttered that if the bairn was fit only for a shaveling, it might be all right.
Grisly Grisell|Charlotte M. Yonge

The warrior uttered a grunt of pain, cast a surprised angry stare at the shaveling of a Paddy, and thrust with his lance.
Overland|John William De Forest

British Dictionary definitions for shaveling

shaveling

noun archaic

derogatory a priest or clergyman with a shaven head

a young fellow; youth

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

Word Origin and History for shaveling

shaveling

contemptuous term for a friar, literally "shaven person," 1520s, from shave + -ling. "Very common in 16th and 17th c." [OED]. Also as an adjective (1570s).