Adjacent Words

Vagabond definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VAG'ABOND, a. [L. vagabundus, from vagor, to wander; from the root of wag.]
1. Wandering; moving from place to place without any settled habitation; as a vagabond exile.
2. Wandering; floating about without any certain direction; driven to and fro.
Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream.
VAG'ABOND, n. [supra.] A vagrant; one who wanders from town to town or place to place, having no certain dwelling, or not abiding in it. By the laws of England and of the United States, vagabonds are liable to be taken up and punished.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: wandering aimlessly without ties to a place or community; "led a vagabond life"; "a rootless wanderer" [syn: rootless, vagabond]
2: continually changing especially as from one abode or occupation to another; "a drifting double-dealer"; "the floating population"; "vagrant hippies of the sixties" [syn: aimless, drifting, floating, vagabond, vagrant] n
1: anything that resembles a vagabond in having no fixed place; "pirate ships were vagabonds of the sea"
2: a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support [syn: vagrant, drifter, floater, vagabond] v
1: move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment; "The gypsies roamed the woods"; "roving vagabonds"; "the wandering Jew"; "The cattle roam across the prairie"; "the laborers drift from one town to the next"; "They rolled from town to town" [syn: roll, wander, swan, stray, tramp, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, drift, vagabond]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French vacabund, from Late Latin vagabundus, from Latin vagari to wander Date: 15th century 1. moving from place to place without a fixed home ; wandering 2. a. of, relating to, or characteristic of a wanderer b. leading an unsettled, irresponsible, or disreputable life • vagabondish adjective II. noun Date: 15th century one leading a vagabond life; especially vagrant, tramp • vagabondage noun • vagabondism noun III. intransitive verb Date: circa 1586 to wander in the manner of a vagabond ; roam about

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n., adj., & v. --n. 1 a wanderer or vagrant, esp. an idle one. 2 colloq. a scamp or rascal. --adj. having no fixed habitation; wandering. --v.intr. wander about as a vagabond. Derivatives: vagabondage n. Etymology: ME f. OF vagabond or L vagabundus f. vagari wander

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vagabond Vag"a*bond, v. i. To play the vagabond; to wander like a vagabond; to stroll. On every part my vagabonding sight Did cast, and drown mine eyes in sweet delight. --Drummond.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vagabond Vag"a*bond, a. [F., fr. L. vagabundus, from vagari to stroll about, from vagus strolling. See Vague.] 1. Moving from place to place without a settled habitation; wandering. ``Vagabond exile.'' --Shak. 2. Floating about without any certain direction; driven to and fro. To heaven their prayers Flew up, nor missed the way, by envious winds Blown vagabond or frustrate. --Milton. 3. Being a vagabond; strolling and idle or vicious.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vagabond Vag"a*bond, n. One who wanders from place to place, having no fixed dwelling, or not abiding in it, and usually without the means of honest livelihood; a vagrant; a tramp; hence, a worthless person; a rascal. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be. --Gen. iv. 12. Note: In English and American law, vagabond is used in bad sense, denoting one who is without a home; a strolling, idle, worthless person. Vagabonds are described in old English statutes as ``such as wake on the night and sleep on the day, and haunt customable taverns and alehouses, and routs about; and no man wot from whence they came, nor whither they go.'' In American law, the term vagrant is employed in the same sense. Cf Rogue, n., 1. --Burrill. --Bouvier.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(vagabonds) A vagabond is someone who wanders from place to place and has no home or job. (OLD-FASHIONED) = tramp, vagrant N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

from Lat. vagabundus, "a wanderer," "a fugitive;" not used opprobriously (Gen. 4:12, R.V., "wanderer;" Ps. 109:10; Acts 19:13, R.V., "strolling").

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

vag'-a-bond (nudh, "to wander"): The word is used in the curse pronounced on Cain (Ge 4:12,14). the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes in each case "wanderer," but in Ps 109:10 it retains "vagabonds." "Vagabond Jews" (perierchomai; the Revised Version (British and American) "strolling Jews") were persons who traveled about as professional exorcists (Ac 19:13).

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Wandering, homeless. II. n. Vagrant, outcast, castaway, loafer, lounger, nomad, land-loper, idle wanderer, strolling beggar, tramp.

Moby Thesaurus

Arab, Bowery bum, arab, bat around, beach bum, beachcomber, beggar, beggarly fellow, bird of passage, blighter, bo, budmash, bum, bummer, caitiff, canter, circumforaneous, count ties, derelict, devil, discursive, divagate, divagatory, dogie, drift, drifter, drifting, drunkard, errant, flit, flitting, floater, floating, footloose, footloose and fancy-free, fugitive, gad, gad about, gadding, gallivant, gamin, gamine, go about, go the rounds, good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, guttersnipe, gypsy, gypsy-like, gypsyish, hit the road, hit the trail, hobo, homeless waif, human wreck, idler, itinerant, jaunt, knock about, knock around, landloper, landloping, lazzarone, loafer, losel, lowlife, mauvais sujet, mean wretch, meander, meandering, migrant, migrational, migratory, mooch, mucker, mudlark, no-good, nomad, nomadic, nomadize, pauvre diable, perambulatory, peregrinate, pererrate, peripatetic, piker, pilgarlic, poor creature, poor devil, prowl, ragamuffin, ragman, ragpicker, ramble, rambling, range, ranging, roadster, roam, roaming, rolling stone, rounder, rove, rover, roving, run about, runagate, sad case, sad sack, saunter, shack, shifting, ski bum, skid-row bum, stiff, straggle, straggling, stray, straying, street Arab, street arab, street urchin, stroll, strolling, sundowner, surf bum, swagger, swagman, swagsman, tatterdemalion, tennis bum, traipse, traipsing, tramp, tramper, transient, transitory, transmigratory, traveler, truant, turnpiker, urchin, vag, vagabondize, vagrant, vaurien, waif, waifs and strays, walk the tracks, wander, wanderer, wandering, wastrel, wayfare, wayfarer, wayfaring, weary, worthless fellow, wretch