peddler

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ped·dler

(pĕd′lər)

One who travels about selling wares for a living.

[Middle English pedlere, probably alteration of peddere, perhaps from Medieval Latin pedārius, one who goes on foot (such as a pilgrim), from Latin pēs, ped-, foot; see pedi-.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

peddler

(ˈpɛdlə)

1. (Recreational Drugs) a person who sells illegal drugs, esp narcotics

2. (Commerce) the usual US spelling of pedlar

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ped•dler

(ˈpɛd lər)

n.

1. a person who sells from door to door or in the street.

2. a person who tries to promote some cause, candidate, viewpoint, etc.

Sometimes, pedlar, pedler.

[1350–1400; Middle English pedlere, unexplained alter. of peder, derivative of ped(de) basket]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	peddler - someone who travels about selling his wares (as on the streets or at carnivals) hawker, packman, pedlar, pitchman chapman - archaic term for an itinerant peddler cheapjack - a peddler of inferior goods crier - a peddler who shouts to advertise the goods he sells muffin man - formerly an itinerant peddler of muffins sandboy - a young peddler of sand; used now only to express great happiness in `happy as a sandboy' marketer, seller, trafficker, vender, vendor - someone who promotes or exchanges goods or services for money transmigrante - a Latin American who buys used goods in the United States and takes them to Latin America to sell
	2.	peddler - an unlicensed dealer in illegal drugs drug dealer, drug peddler, drug trafficker, pusher criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw - someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime dealer - a seller of illicit goods; "a dealer in stolen goods"

peddler

pedlar

noun seller, vendor, hawker, duffer (dialect), huckster, door-to-door salesman, cheap-jack (informal), colporteur drug peddlers LA's ban on sidewalk peddlers

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

peddler

noun

A person who sells narcotics illegally:

dealer.

Slang: pusher.

Translations

γυρολόγος πραματευτής

colporteur

venditore ambulante spacciatore di droga

peddler

[ˈpɛdlə^r] n

(= door-to-door salesman) → colporteur m

[rumours, information] → colporteur/euse m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

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References in classic literature ?

An old man named Daniel Baker, living near Lebanon, Iowa, was suspected by his neighbors of having murdered a peddler who had obtained permission to pass the night at his house.

The peddler with his pack traversed the country by all manner of lonely roads, and was compelled to rely upon the country people for hospitality.

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Here I take this great basket, so; here I tie my rosary around the handle, thus; and here I slip the rosary over my head and sling the basket upon my back, in this wise." And Little John did according to his words, the basket hanging down behind him like a peddler's pack; then, giving his staff to one of the maids, and taking a basket upon either arm, he turned his face toward Tuxford Town and stepped forth merrily, a laughing maid on either side, and one walking ahead, carrying the staff.

In front of the door three merry fellows, a tinker, a peddler, and a beggar, were seated on a bench in the sun quaffing stout ale.

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The peddler said it was warranted to dye any hair a beautiful raven black and wouldn't wash off.

The peddler had certainly spoken the truth when he declared that the dye wouldn't wash off, however his veracity might be impeached in other respects.

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They knew when I had my teeth out and a new set made; they knew when I put on a false front- piece; they knew when the fruit peddler asked me to be his third wife--I never told 'em, an' you can be sure HE never did, but they don't NEED to be told in this village; they have nothin' to do but guess, an' they'll guess right every time.

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The Torzhok peddler woman, in a whining voice, went on offering her wares, especially a pair of goatskin slippers.

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He scoffed at them as adventures, mountebanks, sideshow riffraff, dime museum freaks; he assailed their showy titles with measureless derision; he said they were back-alley barbers disguised as nobilities, peanut peddlers masquerading as gentlemen, organ-grinders bereft of their brother monkey.

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These were called coureurs des bois, rangers of the woods; originally men who had accompanied the Indians in their hunting expeditions, and made themselves acquainted with remote tracts and tribes; and who now became, as it were, peddlers of the wilderness.

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What, perhaps, with other things, made Stubb such an easygoing, unfearing man, so cheerily trudging off with the burden of life in a world full of grave peddlers, all bowed to the ground with their packs; what helped to bring about that almost impious good-humor of his; that thing must have been his pipe.

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And the winds of adventure blew the oyster pirate sloops up and down San Francisco Bay, from raided oyster-beds and fights at night on shoal and flat, to markets in the morning against city wharves, where peddlers and saloon-keepers came down to buy.