Bindlestiff

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbɪnd(ə)lstɪf/

Definitions

1. a wandering laborer or hobo who carries a bundle of possessions while traveling in search of work
2. a homeless vagrant or itinerant worker who travels from place to place with their meager belongings tied in a bundle
3. an unemployed transient person who roams about carrying a pack or bindle in pursuit of casual labor

Etymology: A bindlestiff is a hobo, and the name is a blend of two pieces of American slang. A "bindle" is the bundle of belongings a wandering worker carried tied to a stick over the shoulder, and "stiff" was the slang term for a working man, a laborer or drifter. Put together, the bindlestiff was the man carrying his bindle, a figure of the itinerant workforce that moved between farms, railway camps and construction sites in the United States. The word was built from these two parts rather than inherited from an older language, so its meaning is transparent once you know the pieces. The first element, "bindle," traces to the bundle itself, and the compound fixed the image of the traveler and his pack into a single noun.