street arab

Or street Ar·ab

[street ar-uhb]

noun

Archaic: Often Offensive.

1. a person, especially a child, who lives on the streets; urchin.

street Arab

noun

1. literary,  a homeless child, esp one who survives by begging and stealing; urchin

Sensitive Note

See Arab.

Word History and Origins

Origin of street Arab¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Though the word’s orgins are murky — it has been connected to the Dickensian term “street Arab,” among other things — it’s most likely that “arabber” comes from the Greek word for a fine horse.

From Washington Post

A street arab wins his way into the Royal Navy, and while in the Service has a series of interesting and exciting adventures.

From Project Gutenberg

No one can well imagine the difference wrought in the appearance of the street arab, or the Irish peasant boy, by a short residence on board one of these ships.

From Project Gutenberg

Neatly dressed, clean and natty, surrounded by his quondam playmates, he is “the observed of all observers,” and is gazed at with admiring respect by the street arab from a respectful distance.

From Project Gutenberg

Perhaps quite as lucid an explanation as you could get from an agricultural labourer or a street arab at home.

From Project Gutenberg