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Glite Dictionary
to street-walk

to street-walk

1 9.9
To walk the streets to find people who will pay for sex
  • phrasal verb
  • /strit-wɔk/
  • NSFW
translation icon : prostituirse
  • For some, their only involvement with prostitution came from street-walking, although many participants engaged in other forms of prostitution as well, including working truck stops (n = 6), escort services (n = 7), massage parlors (n = 4), and as stage dancers (n = 4).

Examples

  • She has been street-walking for years, hoping to find enough money to support herself.

  • Vice busted Priscilla Soto over a dozen times for street walking.

    A Gun for Jennifer (1997)

  • Contrary to the street-walking prostitutes in the "livelihood" context, however, these youths discussed having a couple of regular "clients," whereby money earned from these clients went directly to drugs, mainly heroin.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The police frequently patrol the area to prevent street-walkers from soliciting customers.

  • During the night, many street-walkers search for clients along the city's busiest roads.

Synonyms

to streetwalk
vsto street-walk
  • NSFW
9.9

To walk the streets offering sex for money

has identical meaning but is the hyphenated written form

Surface Forms

street-walk infinitive
street-walked past
street-walked past participle
street-walking present participle
street-walks third person singular

Morphology

street-walk = street + walk (semi-transparent) = street + walk

The parts 'street' + 'walk' clearly form the verb, but the sense is specialized to prostitution (walking the streets to solicit), so the precise meaning is not fully predictable for all learners.

Etymology

Street-walk joins street and walk, where street means 'a public road' and walk means 'to move on foot'; it began as a plain image of someone who 'walks' the streets to 'find customers'. So today street-walk refers to working as a prostitute in public places.