feather merchant

noun

, Older Slang.

1. a person who avoids responsibility and effort; loafer.

Word History and Origins

Origin of feather merchant¹

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

Outstanding among them is an erotic, intemperate feather merchant named Bora, played by Bekim Fehmiu, a Yugoslav actor strongly reminiscent of Jean-Paul Belmondo.

From Time Magazine Archive

That was enough to get Manhattan's Murray Sears, big U.S. feather merchant, to book passage to South Africa last week to buy up all the fine feathers he could find.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was flying Old John Feather Merchant barely under the thick cloud layer.

From Time Magazine Archive

On the streets below, pedestrians startled by the low-flying craft looked up, saw Old John Feather Merchant barely miss a 60-floor building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Duke received Konnemann very graciously, when he found that he was a wealthy feather merchant from Berlin, who, having heard of the number and extent of his Grace's gardens at Zachan, had come to purchase all the last year's gathering of feathers.

From Project Gutenberg