noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A person who collects and sells unwanted household items such as rags and other refuse for a living, a rag and bone man (UK) or ragman (US).
2. 2
   an unskilled person who picks up rags from trash cans and public dumps as a means of livelihood wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

arabbeach bumbeachcomberbeggarbobum

Example

More examples

""I'll give you four pennies for your A-B-C book," said a ragpicker who stood by."

Etymology

From rag + picker.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.