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guttersnipe

 [guht-er-snahyp]   Origin

gut·ter·snipe

   [guht-er-snahyp]
noun
1.
a person belonging to or characteristic of the lowest social group in a city.
2.
a street urchin.
Origin:
1855–60; gutter + snipe

Related forms
gut·ter·snip·ish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Guttersnipe is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
guttersnipe (ˈɡʌtəˌsnaɪp)
 
—n
1.  a child who spends most of his time in the streets, esp in a slum area
2.  a person regarded as having the behaviour, morals, etc, of one brought up in squalor
 
[C19: originally a name applied to the common snipe (the bird), then to a person who gathered refuse from gutters in city streets]
 
'guttersnipish
 
—adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

guttersnipe
1857, from gutter (n.) + snipe (n.); originally Wall Street slang for "streetcorner broker," attested later (1869) as "street urchin," also "one who gathers rags and paper from gutters." As a name for the common snipe, it dates from 1874 but is perhaps earlier.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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