lack-all en · NOUN
Etymology
From lack + -all.
Meanings
-
One who has nothing; a destitute person.
To these outcast soldiers of his, unregimented roving banditti for the present, or unworking workhouse prisoners who are almost uglier than banditti; to these floods of Irish Beggars, Able-bodied Paupers, and nomadic Lackalls, now stagnating or roaming everywhere, drowning the face of the world (too truly) into an untenantable swamp and Stygian quagmire, has the Chief Governor of this country no word whatever to say?
1850, Thomas Carlyle, “The Present Time”, in Latter-Day Pamphlets:Thus feel both the labourers and the lack-alls who do not labour, and partly both have a just grievance and a true quarrel against society.
1886, William Graham, The Social Problem, page 7:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| lackall | alternative | lexicographic | |
| lack-alls | Number=Plur | lexicographic |