Meanings
plural street Arabs · alternative street-arab
- datedA homeless child who roams the streets, usually begging for handouts; a street urchin.
‘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.
1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, section VI
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(sometimes offensive) a homeless boy who has been abandoned and roams the streets
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
So-called because they were nomadic, with no fixed home.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
street Arab. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/street%20Arab
“street Arab.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/street%20Arab. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “street Arab,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/street%20Arab.
Source: street Arab on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.