spalpeen
Americannoun
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a lad or boy.
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a rascal; scamp.
noun
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an itinerant seasonal labourer
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a rascal or layabout
Etymology
Origin of spalpeen
1770–80; < Irish spailpín seasonal hired laborer, rude person, scamp, equivalent to spailp spell, bout, turn + -ín noun suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What does a writer do when he has already won the Man Booker Prize and can make copacetic use of words like preterite, spalpeen, goitrous and phthistic?
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2010
"Yer honor, the spalpeen means how do yees do," said Pat, Sir George's driver, in a low voice.
From In the Van; or, The Builders by John Price-Brown
Her heart, which had been beating with indignation the whole time, had nearly betrayed itself when she heard Emon-a-knock called a spalpeen.
From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by E. Rameur
Witness.—It was afther thin that the spalpeen made the disturbance.
From The History and Records of the Elephant Club by Q. K. Philander Doesticks
"If this is what the Geneva treaty said captured officers were to eat, I'm a spalpeen," O'Malley muttered as he marched away with Stan to their quarters.
From A Yankee Flier Over Berlin by Paul Laune
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
