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
Mickey, you spalpeen," said my father, "would you be leaving the gentlemen as dry as the bottom of Moses' feet when he crossed the Red Sea?
From The O'Ruddy A Romance by C. D. (Charles D.) Williams
Let the man alone for the Lord's sake, and don't be after worrying your head over a miserable spalpeen that did ye more harm than—" "Miles, I cannot allow you to speak so of Dick!
From The Black Moth A Romance of the XVIIIth Century by Georgette Heyer
"There comes that little spalpeen ag'in!" cried Dennis suddenly, as he looked back and saw that Levi was following discreetly in the distance.
From The Young Sharpshooter at Antietam by Everett T. (Everett Titsworth) Tomlinson
"Arrah thin, ye spalpeen, where's Samba?" cried Barney as the dog came to him.
From Samba A Story of the Rubber Slaves of the Congo by Herbert Strang
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
