town crier

See more synonyms for town crier on Thesaurus.com

noun

(formerly) a person employed by a town to make public announcements or proclamations, usually by shouting in the streets.

Origin of town crier

First recorded in 1595–1605

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for town crier

announcer, bellman, crier, proclaimer, stentor

Examples from the Web for town crier

Historical Examples of town crier

The words he said might have been published by the town-crier.
Lippincott's Magazine, December 1878
Various
The town-crier had evidently ceased to read the proclamation.
The Elusive Pimpernel
Baroness Emmuska Orczy
After a while, the constable got a deputy to whom he made over his business of town-crier.
A Boy's Town
W. D. Howells
The Count's whiskers are white with the flour just flung at him by the town-crier.
Stray Studies from England and Italy
John Richard Greene
But it was only a town-crier beating his drum to call the people together.
The Honor of the Name
Emile Gaboriau

British Dictionary definitions for town crier

town crier

noun

(formerly) a person employed by a town to make public announcements in the streets

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