mudlark

plural mudlarks

1. archaicslangA pig; pork.First known use 18th c.
2. archaichistoricalOne who scavenges in river or harbor mud for items of value, especially in London.First known use 18th c.

   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.

   2019 August, Neil Armstrong, “A Real Muck Raker”, in Literary Review

   2 more examples

   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.

   1799, George Mogridge, Old Humphrey's walks in London and its neighbourhood, Religious Tract Society, page 286

   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.

   2020 February 12, Megan Specia, “Mudlarks Scour the Thames to Uncover 2,000 Years of Secrets”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

3. A child who plays in the mud; a child that spends most of its time in the streets, a street urchin.First known use 19th c.

   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.

   1995, Isabel Fonseca, Bury Me Standing, Vintage, published 2007, page 104

4. slangA soldier of the Royal Engineers.First known use 19th c.
5. UKregionalAny of various birds that are found in muddy places or build their nests with mud, especially Anthus petrosus and Alauda arvensis.First known use 19th c.
6. AustraliaThe Grallina cyanoleuca that builds its nest with mud into a bowl-like shape.First known use 19th c.
7. A racehorse that performs well on muddy or wet tracks.First known use 20th c.

   Synonyms: mudder

present singular third person mudlarks · participle present mudlarking · participle past mudlarked · past mudlarked

1. intransitiveTo scavenge in river or harbor mud for items of value.