[syn: abuse, clapperclaw, blackguard, shout]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Blackguard \Black"guard`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blackguarded;
p. pr. & vb. n. Blackguarding.]
To revile or abuse in scurrilous language. --Southey.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Blackguard \Black"guard\, a.
Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, blackguard
language.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Blackguard \Black"guard\ (bl[a^]g"g[aum]rd), n. [Black + guard.]
1. The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a
nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence
to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being
smutted by them, were jocularly called the "black guard";
also, the servants and hangers-on of an army. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
A lousy slave, that . . . rode with the black guard
in the duke's carriage, 'mongst spits and dripping
pans. --Webster
(1612).
[1913 Webster]
2. The criminals and vagrants or vagabonds of a town or
community, collectively. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
3. A person of stained or low character, esp. one who uses
scurrilous language, or treats others with foul abuse; a
scoundrel; a rough.
[1913 Webster]
A man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly
below those of his class deserves to be called a
blackguard. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
4. A vagrant; a bootblack; a gamin. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
blackguard
n 1: someone who is morally reprehensible; "you dirty dog" [syn:
cad, bounder, blackguard, dog, hound, heel]
v 1: subject to laughter or ridicule; "The satirists ridiculed
the plans for a new opera house"; "The students poked fun
at the inexperienced teacher"; "His former students roasted
the professor at his 60th birthday" [syn: ridicule,
roast, guy, blackguard, laugh at, jest at, rib,
make fun, poke fun]
2: use foul or abusive language towards; "The actress abused the
policeman who gave her a parking ticket"; "The angry mother
shouted at the teacher" [syn: abuse, clapperclaw,
blackguard, shout]
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
BLACKGUARD, n. A man whose qualities, prepared for display like a box
of berries in a market -- the fine ones on top -- have been opened on
the wrong side. An inverted gentleman.