Dictionary

old-clothesman en · NOUN

Etymology

From old + clothes + -man.

Meanings

1. A dealer in used clothing.
   • If the old-clothesman is waiting for the student, the student is on the impecunious position, sold them back again to Jules. 1893, Henry Sutherland Edwards, “Chapter XXXVIII. Petty Trades.”, in Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, volume 1, Cassell and Company, page 261:
   • At this moment the old-clothesman paused beneath the window, and putting his hand trumpet-wise to his mouth, shrilly declared his ability and willingness to purchase whatever cast-off garments those dwelling in the vicinity might desire to sell. 1902, Theodore Burt Sayre, Tom Moore: An Unhistorical Romance:
   • Having confessed their guilt, on Tuesday in Passion-week, La Hotte, his brother, the sergeant, the locksmith, a shearman, and an old-clothesman called Martin de Coulogne, were ordered to be hanged on the gibbet at Paris by sentence of the provost of Paris. 1853, The Chronicles of Enguerrand De Monstrelet, page 389:
2. A person who wears old, cast-off clothing.

Forms