Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Vagrant
Va′grant
,Adj.
[Probably fr. OF.
waucrant
, wacrant
, p. p. of waucrer
, wacrer
, walcrer
, to wander (probably of Teutonic origin), but influenced by F. vagant
, p. pr. of vaguer
to stray, L. vagari
. Cf. Vagary
.] 1.
Moving without certain direction; wandering; erratic; unsettled.
That beauteous Emma
vagrant
courses took. Prior.
While leading this
vagrant
and miserable life, Johnson fell in love. Macaulay.
2.
Wandering from place to place without any settled habitation;
as, a
. vagrant
beggarVa′grant
,Noun.
One who strolls from place to place; one who has no settled habitation; an idle wanderer; a sturdy beggar; an incorrigible rogue; a vagabond.
Vagrants
and outlaws shall offend thy view. Prior.
Webster 1828 Edition
Vagrant
VA'GRANT
,Adj.
1.
Wandering from place to place without any settled habitation; as a vagrant beggar.2.
Wandering; unsettled; moving without any certain direction.That beauteous Emma vagrant courses took.
VA'GRANT
,Noun.
Vagrants and outlaws shall offend thy view.
Definition 2024
vagrant
vagrant
English
Noun
vagrant (plural vagrants)
- A person without a home; a wanderer.
- Every morning before work, I see that poor vagrant around the neighborhood begging for food.
- 1785, William Cowper, “The Garden”, in The Task, a Poem, in Six Books. By William Cowper [...] To which are Added, by the Same Author, An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq. Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools, and The History of John Gilpin, London: Printed for J[oseph] Johnson, No. 72 St. Paul's Church-Yard, OCLC 221351486; republished as The Task. A Poem. In Six Books. To which is Added, Tirocinium: or, A Review of Schools, new edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Printed for Thomas Dobson, bookseller, in Second-street, second door above Chestnut-street, 1787, OCLC 23630717, page 87:
- 'Tis the cruel gripe, / That lean hard-handed poverty inflicts, / The hope of better things, the chance to win, / The wiſh to ſhine, the thirſt to be amus'd, / That at the found of Winter's hoary wing, / Unpeople all our counties, of ſuch herds, / Of flutt'ring, loit'ring, cringing, begging, looſe, / And wanton vagrants, as make London, vaſt / And boundless as it is, a crowded coop.
- (ornithology) A bird found outside its species’ usual range.
Synonyms
- (person without a home or job): beggar, down-and-out, drifter, tramp, vagabond
- (wanderer): wanderer, itinerant
- See also Wikisaurus:vagabond
Derived terms
Translations
person without a home or job
wanderer
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Adjective
vagrant (comparative more vagrant, superlative most vagrant)
- Moving without certain direction; wandering; erratic; unsettled.
- Prior
- That beauteous Emma vagrant courses took.
- Macaulay
- While leading this vagrant and miserable life, Johnson fell in love.
- Prior
- Wandering from place to place without any settled habitation.
- a vagrant beggar