CHURL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Churl

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noun

Churl n.

A rustic; a countryman or laborer. "A peasant or churl." "Your rank is all reversed; let men of cloth Bow to the stalwart churls in overalls."

A rough, surly, ill-bred man; a boor. "A churl's courtesy rarely comes, but either for gain or falsehood."

A selfish miser; an illiberal person; a niggard. "Like to some rich churl hoarding up his pelf."

adjective

Churl adj. Churlish; rough; selfish. (Obs.)

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Etymology of 'Churl'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Churl" Quotes from Famous Books

... gods, also dwelt for a time among men as "Rig", and had human offspring, his son Thrall being the ancestor of the Thralls, his son Churl of ...

— Myths of Babylonia and Assyria • Donald A. Mackenzie

... kind, serves God far better than he. He is the very stain, reproach, and shame of religion to all that know him: it can hardly have a good word in that end of the town where he dwells, through him—a saint abroad, and a devil at home! His poor family find it so. He is such a churl; such a railer at and so unreasonable with his servants, that they neither know how to do for him nor speak of him. Men that have any dealings with him say it is better to deal with a Turk than with him, for fairer dealings they shall have at ...

— Talkers - With Illustrations • John Bate

... cause of absolutism. He was received by Metternich with great interest, and his fortunes were taken under the protection of the Austrian Court. In due time, it was hoped this savage and ignorant churl would do yeoman's service to Austrian principles in the Peninsula. But the Regency and the new Constitution of Portugal had not to wait for the tardy operation of Metternich's covert hostility. The soldiery who had risen at Miguel's bidding in ...

— History of Modern Europe 1792-1878 • C. A. Fyffe

... "Grimner's Song" contains a description of twelve habitations of the celestial deities, considered as symbolical of the signs of the zodiac. "Rig's Song" explains, allegorically, the origin of the three castes: the thrall, the churl, and the noble, which, at a very early period, appear to have formed the framework of Scandinavian society. "The Havamal," or the High Song of Odin, is the complete code of Scandinavian ethics. The maxims here brought together more resemble ...

— Handbook of Universal Literature - From The Best and Latest Authorities • Anne C. Lynch Botta

... said, when the Emperor had asked me about my company, "these are my slaves, all except that old churl there"—I indicated Johannes Maartens—"who is the son of a freed man." I told Hendrik Hamel to approach. "This one," I wantoned on, "was born in my father's house of a seed slave who was born there before him. He is very ...

— The Jacket (The Star-Rover) • Jack London

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