From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
urchin
n 1: 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.
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2. (Zool.) A sea urchin. See Sea urchin.
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3. A mischievous elf supposed sometimes to take the form a
hedgehog. "We 'll dress [them] like urchins, ouphes, and
fairies." --Shak.
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4. A pert or roguish child; -- now commonly used only of a
boy.
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And the urchins that stand with their thievish eyes
Forever on watch ran off each with a prize. --W.
Howitt.
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You did indeed dissemble, you urchin you; but
where's the girl that won't dissemble for an
husband? --Goldsmith.
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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.
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Urchin fish (Zool.), a diodon.
[1913 Webster]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008) [foldoc]:
munchkin
urchin
/muhnch'kin/ [Squeaky-voiced little people in L. Frank Baum's
"The Wizard of Oz"] A teenage-or-younger micro enthusiast
hacking BASIC or something else equally constricted. A term
of mild derision - munchkins are annoying but some grow up
to be hackers after passing through a larval stage. The
term urchin is also used. See also wannabee, bitty box.
[Jargon File]
From Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) [jargon]:
urchin
n.
See munchkin.