'Waif' definitions:
Definition of 'waif'
(from WordNet)
noun
A homeless child especially one forsaken or orphaned; "street children beg or steal in order to survive" [syn: waif, street child]
Definition of 'Waif'
From: GCIDE
- Waif \Waif\, n. [OF. waif, gaif, as adj., lost, unclaimed, chose gaive a waif, LL. wayfium, res vaivae; of Scand. origin. See Waive.] [1913 Webster]
- 1. (Eng. Law.) Goods found of which the owner is not known; originally, such goods as a pursued thief threw away to prevent being apprehended, which belonged to the king unless the owner made pursuit of the felon, took him, and brought him to justice. --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Hence, anything found, or without an owner; that which comes along, as it were, by chance. "Rolling in his mind old waifs of rhyme." --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
- 3. A wanderer; a castaway; a stray; a homeless child. [1913 Webster]
- A waif Desirous to return, and not received. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'waif'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- Arab,
- beach bum,
- beachcomber,
- beggar,
- bo,
- bum,
- bummer,
- castaway,
- castoff,
- derelict,
- discard,
- dogie,
- flotsam,
- flotsam and jetsam,
- foundling,
- gamin,
- gamine,
- guttersnipe,
- hobo,
- homeless waif,
- idler,
- jetsam,
- junk,
- lagan,
- landloper,
- lazzarone,
- loafer,
- losel,
- mudlark,
- orphan,
- piker,
- ragamuffin,
- ragman,
- ragpicker,
- refuse,
- reject,
- rounder,
- rubbish,
- ski bum,
- stiff,
- stray,
- street Arab,
- street urchin,
- sundowner,
- surf bum,
- swagman,
- swagsman,
- tatterdemalion,
- tennis bum,
- tramp,
- trash,
- turnpiker,
- urchin,
- vag,
- vagabond,
- vagrant,
- waifs and strays,
- wastrel