rag·pick·er

(răg′pĭk′ər)

One who makes a living scavenging rags and other refuse.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ragpicker

(ˈræɡˌpɪkə)

(Professions) Brit another word for rag-and-bone man

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rag•pick•er

(ˈrægˌpɪk ər)

n.

a person who picks up rags and other waste material from the streets, refuse heaps, etc., for a livelihood.

[1855–60]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

ragpicker - an unskilled person who picks up rags from trash cans and public dumps as a means of livelihood

unskilled person - a person who lacks technical training

Translations

ragpicker

[ˈrægpɪkəʳ] N → trapero m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"I'll give you four pennies for your A-B-C book," said a ragpicker who stood by.

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Summary: Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) [India], July 20 (ANI): A ragpicker's son, Asharam Choudhary, has got admission for MBBS at the All India Institute for Medical Sciences in Jodhpur.

Rag picker's son battles hardship, gets MBBS admission in AIIMS

In another incident Monday night, an angry mob tried to lynch a ragpicker and the police could save her with great difficulty.

Hyderabad: Woman saved from being lynched

These locales are summoned in Bengston's titles and motifs, and have contributed to the sense of his having reimagined the modernist ragpicker as a free-spirited beachcomber.

Billy Al Bengston: Samuel Freeman

AT 9: 45pm on September 22, a ragpicker found a gunny bag containing the severed abdomen -- all the way till the upper thighs -- of a woman along with a petticoat, a tube top and a bed sheet all wrapped in plastic.

Cops yet to determine identity of dismembered Worli torso

Third, he has been an outspoken advocate for homeless young people, urging the French government to provide greater financial support, for which he received praise from Abbe Pierre, the famous "ragpicker priest" of Paris.

Gaillot dismissal defies logic, reason

A video of the incident -- purportedly showing two people taking turns to beat the man, identified as Mukesh Vaniya, a ragpicker, with a stick while another person holding him by a rope tied to his waist -- has gone viral on the social media.

Dalit man beaten to death in Gujarat, 5 held

Still further support came from Abbe Pierre, the noted "ragpicker priest" of Paris.

Protests follow French bishop's removal

In an economy that renders the greater population superfluous, how can we know the ragpicker from the rag?

Josh Kline: 47 Canal

While most artists are ace consumers who buy things off shelves or order them on Amazon, Agematsu works in the tradition of the ragpicker, bending over a stretch of pavement to scavenge a little find.

Yuji Agematsu: Real Fine Arts

I have been working as a ragpicker since the age of 14 and ever since I came in touch with Chintan, I have been collecting waste from 90-odd houses at Pandara Road, a VIP area in central Delhi.

Waste collector wins UN award