urchin
(noun) poor and often mischievous city child
Source: WordNet® 3.1
urchin (plural urchins)
A mischievous child.
A street urchin, a child who lives, or spends most of their time, in the streets.
(archaic) A hedgehog.
A sea urchin.
A mischievous elf supposed sometimes to take the form of a hedgehog.
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.
(historical) A neutron-generating device that triggered the nuclear detonation of the earliest plutonium atomic bombs.
• chunri, unrich
Source: Wiktionary
Ur"chin, n. Etym: [OE. urchon, irchon, a hedgehog, OF. ireçon, eriçon, heri, herichon, F. hérisson, a derivative fr. L. ericius, from er a hedgehog, for her; akin to Gr. Herisson.]
1. (Zoöl.)
Definition: A hedgehog.
2. (Zoöl.)
Definition: A sea urchin. See Sea urchin.
3. A mischievous elf supposed sometimes to take the form a hedgehog. "We 'll dress [them] like urchins, ouphes, and fairies." Shak.
4. A pert or roguish child; -- now commonly used only of a boy. And the urchins that stand with their thievish eyes Forever on watch ran off each with a prize. W. Howitt. You did indeed dissemble, you urchin you; but where's the girl that won't dissemble for an husband Goldsmith.
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. Urchin fish (Zoöl.), a diodon.
Ur"chin, a.
Definition: Rough; pricking; piercing. [R.] "Helping all urchin blasts." Milton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
28 May 2025
(noun) a distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing; “an air of mystery”; “the house had a neglected air”; “an atmosphere of defeat pervaded the candidate’s headquarters”; “the place had an aura of romance”
Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.
