spalpeen
Americannoun
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a lad or boy.
-
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
I suspict," said Dennis, as he tauntingly grinned at the helpless prisoner, "that the little spalpeen has some other papers somewhere about him.
From The Young Sharpshooter at Antietam by Everett T. (Everett Titsworth) Tomlinson
"I said a spalpeen let you down," O'Malley growled.
From A Yankee Flier Over Berlin by Paul Laune
"I'll bet the spalpeen will get a scare when you walk into that hangar," O'Malley said with a grin.
From A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F. by Rutherford George Montgomery
I will, father, and if I fail, and I find that that spalpeen Lennon is at the bottom of it, let them both look out, that's all.
From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by E. Rameur
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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.
