Mudlark
noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A pig; pork. archaic, slang
- 2 One who scavenges in river or harbor mud for items of value, especially in London. archaic, historical
"Besides these, there were the mudlark and the scupple hunter: the former prowling about at low water, receiving in his small bag such petty packages as he could get from his dishonest friends on board; and the later sneaking about the wharves and quays, under the pretense of wanting work, to pick up everything and anything that came to hand."
- 3 A child who plays in the mud; a child that spends most of its time in the streets, a street urchin.
"the children were nothing like inert: a large population of junior mudlarks, so long unwashed that you could hardly make them out, climbed among the ruins, cheerfully playing the games that all children play – pushing wheels with sticks, flipping rusty lids and bottle caps in makeshift tiddlywinks."
- 4 A soldier of the Royal Engineers. slang
- 5 Any of various birds that are found in muddy places or build their nests with mud, especially Anthus petrosus and Alauda arvensis. UK, regional
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 The Grallina cyanoleuca that builds its nest with mud into a bowl-like shape. Australia
- 7 A racehorse that performs well on muddy or wet tracks.
- 1 To scavenge in river or harbor mud for items of value. intransitive
Example
More examples"Besides these, there were the mudlark and the scupple hunter: the former prowling about at low water, receiving in his small bag such petty packages as he could get from his dishonest friends on board; and the later sneaking about the wharves and quays, under the pretense of wanting work, to pick up everything and anything that came to hand."
Etymology
From mud + lark.
Related phrases
More for "mudlark"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.