urchin
[ ur-chin ]
/ ˈɜr tʃɪn /
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noun
a mischievous boy.
any small boy or youngster.
either of two small rollers covered with card clothing used in conjunction with the cylinder in carding.
Chiefly British Dialect. a hedgehog.
Obsolete. an elf or mischievous sprite.
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON “THEIR,” “THERE,” AND “THEY’RE”
Are you aware how often people swap around “their,” “there,” and “they’re”? Prove you have more than a fair grasp over these commonly confused words.
Question 1 of 7
Which one of these commonly confused words can act as an adverb or a pronoun?
Origin of urchin
1300–50; Middle English urchun, urchon hedgehog <Old North French (h)erichon,Old French heriçun<Vulgar Latin *hēriciōn- (stem of *hēriciō), equivalent to Latin ēric(ius) hedgehog + -iōn--ion
Words nearby urchin
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for urchin
British Dictionary definitions for urchin
urchin
/ (ˈɜːtʃɪn) /
noun
a mischievous roguish child, esp one who is young, small, or raggedly dressed
See sea urchin, heart urchin
an archaic or dialect name for a hedgehog
either of the two cylinders in a carding machine that are covered with carding cloth
obsolete an elf or sprite
Word Origin for urchin
C13: urchon, from Old French heriçon, from Latin ēricius hedgehog, from ēr, related to Greek khēr hedgehog
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