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Glite Dictionary
ragpicker

ragpicker

1 9.9
A person who collects old clothes and scraps from streets to sell
  • noun
  • /ˈræɡˌpɪkər/
  • Archaic
translation icon : recogedor de trapos
  • Every Saturday, the ragpicker roamed the neighborhood, gathering discarded items for resale.

Examples

  • Whether she stole the guise of a princess or a ragpicker's child to extort candy from the neighbors, Molly herself was a handful.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • The ragpicker collected old clothes and newspapers from the streets to sell at the market.

  • A ragpicker wouldn't stick his hook into her.

    Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

  • The Night Walkers of Ragpicker's Row.

    Gangs of New York (2002)

  • And elsewhere: "What kind of new revolutions are you preparing for us with your ragpickers, your Carlists, and your neighborhood Robespierres? What times!"

    Academic text (2001)

  • The roustabouts thought the two were ragpickers going about to sharpen knives and sell blue and purple skeins of thread.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • She forgot her snooty voice and yelled like a Centerville ragpicker, "Whippy Bird and Effa Commander!"

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The people who lived in Tondo were there because they found a niche in the ecosystem as ragpickers, small tradesmen, day laborers in nearby factories, or in service industries like home laundry and domestic service.

    Blog text (24)

  • He saw the ragpicker sorting through the trash, searching for anything that could be reused or sold.

Synonyms

scavenger
vsragpicker
20 5.5

A person who searches through trash for things to reuse or sell

focuses more on cloth and general refuse from public places
trashman
vsragpicker
  • US
1 3.3

A person who collects trash and looks for things to use again or sell

is more specific to collecting cloth and small refuse for resale
junker
vsragpicker
  • US
1 8.1

A person who collects and fixes old broken things to sell or keep

is mainly about collecting discarded cloth and refuse for resale rather than repair
ragman
vsragpicker
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A person who goes door to door collecting old clothes to sell

collects cloth and other refuse from streets and bins to resell
junkman
vsragpicker
  • US
1 5.1

A person who collects old things to sell or throw away

centres on picking cloth and other refuse mainly from public waste
scrapper
vsragpicker
  • US
4.8

A person who collects and sells scrap metal and old appliances

deals mainly with cloth and mixed refuse rather than metal materials
rummager
vsragpicker
5.3

A person or animal who searches through messy things like bins to find useful items

is more about gathering discarded cloth and refuse to sell rather than just searching
picker-up
vsragpicker
  • Archaic
7.4

A person who collects litter from places like beaches or parks

focuses on collecting discarded goods from public places to resell

Surface Forms

ragpicker singular
ragpickers plural

Morphology

ragpicker = rag + picker (transparent) = rag + picker

Clear compound of 'rag' + 'picker' meaning a person who picks/gathers rags; easily deducible by learners who know the components.

Etymology

Ragpicker breaks into rag ('old cloth') and pick ('to take'), with the -er part showing a person. Think of someone walking the streets taking old cloth and bits to sell again, which is why a ragpicker is a person who collects rags and other refuse to sell.