guttersnipe

plural guttersnipes

1. datedderogatoryA person of the lowest social or economic class.

   Do not worry, Mrs Kane, we will return you a different boy. The guttersnipe you bring us will not be the boy you get back.

   1980, Bernard MacLaverty, 'Lamb' (novel), (Chapter 6, at page 51 in the 1981 King Penguin paperback edition)

2. archaicderogatoryA street urchin.First known use 1869

   Never lose a chance: it doesnt come everyday. I shall make a duchess of this draggletailed guttersnipe.

   1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act II, page 123

3. USderogatoryobsoleteslangA broker who sold securities in the street.First known use 1857