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# urchin

«urchin» in Mova's early modern english dictionary: **scruffy child** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### kind

archaic word

### modern equivalent

scruffy child

### part of speech

noun

### meaning for a pupil

A poor or mischievous child, or in the first sentence a hedgehog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/U/urchin/#m1)

### how it differs from today

Today "urchin" usually means a sea urchin. The sentences use the old sense of a poor or mischievous child, and in the first sentence a hedgehog.

### examples

- "In the fourth glass is neither herb, bird, nor urchin. (Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/U/urchin/#x1)
- “They say he is a mischief-maker, a tramp, a street urchin--” (The Adventures of Pinocchio) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/U/urchin/#x2)
- One day two street-urchins were playing and wading in the gutter, picking up old nails, pennies, and such things. (The Yellow Fairy Book) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/U/urchin/#x3)

### primary record

urchin

### tests

rate: word (≥3 uses, never in EWT or ≥10× EWT, Wiktionary: first sense archaic); corpora 8 (Torah 0, tales 8, Sefer Yetzirah 0); EWT 0; ratio 0.9 (Torah alone 0.0); Wiktionary archaic (first sense)

### In the corpora

- [Even urchins despised me; if I arise, they speak against me.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/JOB.484/)
- [Sea urchins are covered with movable spines that point towards a threat, and their mouth underneath has five teeth called Aristotle's lantern.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/248-defences-skunks-porcupines-hedgehogs-and-armour/11/)
- [Sea otters, sea urchins and kelp are another trophic cascade.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/283-wolves-in-yellowstone-beavers-in-britain-and-bringing-nature-back/8/)
- [Sea otters protect kelp forests by eating the sea urchins that eat kelp.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/30-balance-in-food-webs/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «urchin» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/U/urchin/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.