urchin
14
7.8
- noun
- /ˈɜr.tʃɪn/
:
niño de la calle
- The little urchin darted through the streets, laughing as he played with his friends.
- street urchins
Examples
-
Shina came home barefoot, a weeping urchin caked head-to-foot with soot and cinders, so she has been "Cinderella" ever since.
Fiction book (1997) -
My father survived as an urchin on the streets in Budapest, passing as a Christian with false identity papers and a stolen fascist armband.
-
What, were you a homeless street urchin?
-
And how does such a filthy little urchin collect friends?
Fiction book (1992) -
I had to give tuppence to the urchin who brought it.
Fiction book (1994) -
The young urchin who had followed them came to the door of the saloon.
Fiction book (1997) -
And who are these urchins?
-
You're no better than the other urchins now.
-
Yes, I did like the school, but I didn't know that those dirty little urchins...
-
One sundae might not be missed, but these hungry urchins would empty out the truck.
Fiction book (2001)
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
Compounds
How Mischievous
Surface Forms
Etymology
Urchin once meant hedgehog, a small spiny animal. People began to use it for scruffy, quick children, so an urchin now means a poor, mischievous street child.