couple-beggar
nounEtymology
Originally a verb-noun compound, "one who couples beggars"; later extended to cases where the spouses were not destitute.
Definitions
One who, for a fee, performs an unauthorised wedding service, especially for poor people…
One who, for a fee, performs an unauthorised wedding service, especially for poor people (originally beggars).
- Yet you'd have no license, but be married by beggarly bans ! [...] Sure it's wonderful you don't seek out a couple-beggar, and get married like the heathens in the time of Nebecudnazar !
- these destitute paupers believed themselves to be married, since they had paid a small sum of money to a 'couple beggar' and in return he performed a rudimentary ritual over them.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for couple-beggar. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA