street Arab

See also: street-arab

English

Alternative forms

• street-arab

Etymology

So-called because they were nomadic, with no fixed home.

Noun

street Arab (plural street Arabs)

1. (dated) A homeless child who roams the streets, usually begging for handouts; a street urchin.
   • 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, section VI:

     ‘It's the Baker Street division of the detective police force,’ said my companion, gravely; and as he spoke there rushed into the room half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street Arabs that ever I clapped eyes on.

Further reading

• “street Arab”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Arab street