gridler

English

Etymology

From gridle +‎ -er.

Noun

gridler (plural gridlers)

1. One who gridles (sings as a form of begging).
   • 1908, W. H. Davies, chapter 31, in The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp:

     Professional singers are paid according to the richness, sweetness, and compass of their voices, but the gridler's profit increases as his vocal powers decline.

   • 1934, Thomas Moult, W. H. Davies, page 61:

     The consequence was that the gridler proposed they should work together. Davies consented, although he did not yet know what the work might be.

   • 2014, Joseph O'Neill, The Secret World of the Victorian Lodging House:

     Others who relied on their ability to tell a heartrending tale were the 'gridlers' and 'chanters', whose misfortunes would even engage the sympathies of a pawnbroker.

Anagrams

• Girdler, girdler