Tatterdemalion

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Tatterdemalion \Tat`ter*de*mal"ion\, n. [Tatter + OF.
     desmaillier to break the meshes of, to tear: cf. OF. maillon
     long clothes, swadding clothes, F. maillot. See {Tatter}, and
     {Mail} armor.]
     A ragged fellow; a ragamuffin. --L'Estrange.
     [1913 Webster]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  tatterdemalion
       adj 1: worn to shreds; or wearing torn or ragged clothing; "a man
              in a tattered shirt"; "the tattered flag"; "tied up in
              tattered brown paper"; "a tattered barefoot boy"; "a
              tatterdemalion prince" [syn: {tattered}]
       2: in deplorable condition; "a street of bedraggled tenements";
          "a broken-down fence"; "a ramshackle old pier"; "a
          tumble-down shack" [syn: {bedraggled}, {broken-down}, {dilapidated},
           {ramshackle}, {tumble-down}, {unsound}]
       n : a dirty shabbily clothed urchin [syn: {ragamuffin}]