Meaning of bone-grubber | Babel Free

Definitions

A person who scavenges for waste materials such as bones and rags to sell.

obsolete

Examples

“More than half of our modern scribes, and particularly the dramatic portion of them, are little better than literary bone-'''grubbers, pickers and stealers of unconsidered trifles,—men who, having no brains, live⟳ by spinning the brains of others, and give⟳ themselves credt for originality.”

“The bone-grubber generally seeks out the narrow back streets, where dust and refuse⟳ are cast⟳, or where any dust-bins are accessible. The articles for which he chiefly searches are rags and bones—rags he prefers—but waste⟳ metal, such as bits of lead⟳, pewter, copper, brass, or old iron⟳, he prizes above all.”

“If anyone believes that rats are not used for human food, he must change⟳ his opinion. In Paris the chiffoniers or bone-grubbers eat⟳ them.”

“While you were there father died. As you know⟳, he was a bone-grubber; the only property he left me was a hooked stick⟳, a bag, and a horse’s skeleton.”

CEFR level