WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Ur"chin
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OE. urchon, irchon, a hedgehog, OF. ire?on, eri?on, heri, herichon, F. h?risson, a derivative fr. L. ericius, from er a hedgehog, for her; akin to Gr. Herisson.]
Definition : 1. (Zo?l.)

Defn: A hedgehog.

2. (Zo?l.)

Defn: A sea urchin. See Sea urchin.

3. A mischievous elf supposed sometimes to take the form a hedgehog. "We 'll dress [them] like urchins, ouphes, and fairies." Shak.

4. A pert or roguish child; -- now commonly used only of a boy. And the urchins that stand with their thievish eyes Forever on watch ran off each with a prize. W. Howitt. You did indeed dissemble, you urchin you; but where's the girl that won't dissemble for an husband Goldsmith.

5. One of a pair in a series of small card cylinders, arranged around a carding drum; -- so called from its fancied resemblance to the hedgehog. Knight. Urchin fish (Zo?l.), a diodon.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Ur"chin
Part of Speech : a.
Definition : Defn: Rough; pricking; piercing. [R.] "Helping all urchin blasts." Milton.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913