hurdy-gurdist

noun

¦hərdē¦gərdə̇st

variants or hurdy-gurdyist

¦⸗⸗¦⸗dēə̇st

plural hurdy-gurdists or hurdy-gurdyists

: a hurdy-gurdy player

Two hurdy-gurdists and a poor / Street-Handel grinding at my door, / Are all my 'tuneful throng.'

—Thomas Hood, "An Ode in Imitation of Horace,", circa 1828

Word History

First Known Use

1827, in the meaning defined above

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