urchin
urchin — noun
- urchinsingular
- urchinsplural
1. a young child, often in older stories, who looks poor, dirty, and ready to cause
a young child, often in older stories, who looks poor, dirty, and ready to cause trouble
Yuki handed the hungry urchin a warm bun from the tray.
urchin as a poor street child
A muddy urchin tugged at shoppers' sleeves outside the station bakery.
street-scene use of urchin
The innkeeper chased the laughing urchin away from the apple cart.
In the old novel, an urchin sleeps under a bridge by the river.
- street child
neutral phrase that focuses on life on the street
- waif
more literary and stresses weakness or homelessness
- brat
focuses on bad behavior rather than poverty or dirty clothes
文法句型
a little urchin
a street urchin
用法筆記
This sense often appears in older fiction or story-like descriptions, especially for poor children in the street. In neutral modern contexts, speakers more often say child, kid, or street child.
常見錯誤
2. a tiny sea animal whose hard round body is covered in sharp spines
a tiny sea animal whose hard round body is covered in sharp spines
Caio cracked open a sea urchin shell at the harbor stall.
sea urchin as food
A purple urchin clung to the rock below the tide pool.
urchin in a tide-pool scene
The diver warned Min not to step on the black urchins.
Sea otters crack urchins on their chests before eating them.
At the aquarium, children watched an urchin move its tiny spines.
- sea urchin
the full everyday form, especially when no sea setting has been mentioned yet
文法句型
a sea urchin
urchins cling to rocks
用法筆記
When the marine setting is not already obvious, people often say sea urchin. The shorter form urchin is common once the sea context is already clear.