mudlark
/ˈmʌdlɑːk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.26 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A child who plays in the mud; a child that spends most of its time in the streets, a street urchin.
Example Sentences
- "Besides these, there were the mudlark and the scupple hunter: the former prowling about at low water, receiving in his small bag such petty packages as he could get from his dishonest friends on board; and the later sneaking about the wharves and quays, under the pretense of wanting work, to pick up everything and anything that came to hand."
- "She removes only what the water ‘delivers’ to her – items she can see lying on the surface. Unlike some other mudlarks, she does not dig for finds."
- "Dr. Fiona Haughey, a London archaeologist who has worked on the Thames since the 1990s, said that although some mudlarks are looking for valuables, others are looking for a connection with the everyday objects of a bygone Britain."
- "the children were nothing like inert: a large population of junior mudlarks, so long unwashed that you could hardly make them out, climbed among the ruins, cheerfully playing the games that all children play – pushing wheels with sticks, flipping rusty lids and bottle caps in makeshift tiddlywinks."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈmʌdlɑːk/
Usage
- Archaic
- Slang
- British usage
- Australian usage
- Intransitive verb