dictionary definitions for "urchin"


From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:

  urchin
      n : poor and often mischievous city child

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Urchin \Ur"chin\, a.
     Rough; pricking; piercing. [R.] "Helping all urchin blasts."
     --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Urchin \Ur"chin\ ([^u]"ch[i^]n), n. [OE. urchon, irchon, a
     hedgehog, OF. ire[,c]on, eri[,c]on, heri[,c]on, herichon, F.
     h['e]risson, a derivative fr. L. ericius, from er a hedgehog,
     for her; akin to Gr. chh`r. Cf. Herisson.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Zool.) A hedgehog.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Zool.) A sea urchin. See Sea urchin.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A mischievous elf supposed sometimes to take the form a
        hedgehog. "We 'll dress [them] like urchins, ouphes, and
        fairies." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A pert or roguish child; -- now commonly used only of a
        boy.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And the urchins that stand with their thievish eyes
              Forever on watch ran off each with a prize. --W.
                                                    Howitt.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              You did indeed dissemble, you urchin you; but
              where's the girl that won't dissemble for an
              husband?                              --Goldsmith.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. One of a pair in a series of small card cylinders,
        arranged around a carding drum; -- so called from its
        fancied resemblance to the hedgehog. --Knight.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Urchin fish (Zool.), a diodon.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:

  urchin
  
     See munchkin.
  
     [Jargon File]
  

From Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) [jargon]:

  urchin
   n.
  
     See munchkin.
  


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