guttersnipe

From gutter +‎ snipe.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡʌtɚˌsnaɪp/

• Audio (General Australian):

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guttersnipe (plural guttersnipes)

1. (derogatory, dated) A person of the lowest social or economic class.
   • 1980, Bernard MacLaverty, 'Lamb' (novel), (Chapter 6, at page 51 in the 1981 King Penguin paperback edition):

     "Do not worry, Mrs Kane, we will return you a different boy. The guttersnipe you bring us will not be the boy you get back."

2. (derogatory, archaic) A street urchin. [from 1869]
   • 1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act II, page 123:

     Never lose a chance: it doesnt come everyday. I shall make a duchess of this draggletailed guttersnipe.

3. (US, slang, obsolete, derogatory) A broker who sold securities in the street.[from 1857]

• “guttersnipe”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.