guttersnipe
2
9.9
- noun
- /ˈɡʌtərsnaɪp/
- Offensive
:
niño de la calle (ofensivo)
- After school, the guttersnipe spent her days scavenging for food in the alleyways.
- little guttersnipe
Examples
-
You should have seen the little guttersnipe before I found her.
-
- You little guttersnipe, get out of here.
-
So what did you miss about me you little guttersnipe?
-
I've information relating to the guttersnipe called Collins.
-
You little guttersnipe!
-
She's a guttersnipe, comes from some bourgeois family out in the sticks.
Fiction book (1999) -
She saved those poor little guttersnipes from the German bombs all the same, whether she did it out of Christian charity or because it went with the image of a lady of the manor.
Fiction book (1994) -
The little guttersnipe played in the streets while the adults ignored her.
-
Many children in the neighborhood were labeled as guttersnipes due to their rough surroundings.
Synonyms
5
7.6
A poor child who spends most of their time on the streets
3
4.4
A child who lives or works on the streets without adult care
A person who spends a lot of time on the street talking with others
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Guttersnipe joins the common word gutter 'a channel at the side of a street for water' and snipe 'a small, shy bird that hides in wet places'. Picture a child living in the gutter like a little bird hiding in the mud — that's why guttersnipe means a street child who spends most of their time in poor parts of the city.