Word Meanings - BLACKGUARD - Book Publishers vocabulary database

1. The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the "black guard"; also, the servants

Additional info about word: BLACKGUARD

1. The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the "black guard"; also, the servants and hangers-on of an army. A lousy slave, that . . . rode with the black guard in the duke's carriage, 'mongst spits and dripping pans. Webster . 2. The criminals and vagrants or vagabonds of a town or community, collectively. 3. A person of stained or low character, esp. one who uses scurrilous language, or treats others with foul abuse; a scoundrel; a rough. A man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly below those of his class deserves to be called a blackguard. Macaulay. 4. A vagrant; a bootblack; a gamin.

Related words: (words related to BLACKGUARD)

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  To tear with the nails; to cover with scratches.
• BEASTLIHEAD
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• CALLOSUM
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• HAIRBELL
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