Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

clochard

American  
[kloh-sherd] / ˈkloʊ ʃərd /

noun

  1. a beggar; vagrant; tramp.


Etymology

Origin of clochard

First recorded in 1940–45; from French, derivative of clocher “to limp,” from Latin clopus “lame”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It has a great performance from Michel Simon as the eponymous noisome clochard rescued from a suicide attempt in the Seine by a kindly Parisian bookseller.

From The Guardian • Dec. 19, 2010

In a dingy corner behind the Hotel de Ville, where they sleep huddled together with a flea-ridden dog, a clochard and his wife were equally insulted by the notion that they are redeemable.

From Time Magazine Archive

As if ready to abandon his Gallic faith in wine, one slightly awed clochard said, "And to think that water can do all this!"

From Time Magazine Archive

"My clochard, sirs, is warm," quavered the Clerk.

From Collected Poems Volume Two by Noyes, Alfred

King Edward the Third built in the little sanctuarie a clochard of stone and timber, and placed therein three bells, for the vse of Saint Stephen's Chappel.

From Notes and Queries, Number 196, July 30, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by Bell, George