urchin
[ ur-chin ]
/ ˈɜr tʃɪn /
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.
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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. 2020
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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