bindlestiff

A tramp (hobo) who carries a bedroll or a bundle of possessions.

Noun

  1. A tramp (hobo) who carries a bedroll or a bundle of possessions.
    • The hobo was a migrant worker, generally honest. The tramp would make a living stealing but there would be mutual respect between them. The bindlestiff on the otherhand was the lowest of the low for he would steal from...
    • And before he knew it he was a bindlestiff himself. - 1952, John Steinbeck, East of Eden:
    • She had been born in Tucson, mother full-blooded Cherokee, father a bindlestiff on his way through. - 1967, Harlan Ellison, Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes:

Origin

From bindle + stiff.

Forms

bindlestiffs