Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗noun
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventorya homeless person, especially one who sleeps in the New York subway. · A male suspicious person or crime suspect, especially a street person such as a drug dealer, pimp or panhandler.
* Perhaps from skeleton, describing the often skeletal appearance of drug users. * Alternatively, from skellum or skelder ("to beg in the streets"). Used by Ben Jonson, 1599. * In the sense of a suspicious person, popularized by the American TV police drama NYPD Blue.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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"a homeless person, especially one who sleeps in the New York subway.",
"A male suspicious person or crime suspect, especially a street person such as a drug dealer, pimp or panhandler."
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