ragpicker

[ rag-pik-er ]

/ ˈrægˌpɪk ər /

a person who picks up rags and other waste material from the streets, refuse heaps, etc., for a livelihood.

Origin of ragpicker

First recorded in 1855–60; rag¹ + picker

The ragpicker helped the soldier to sit up, and supported him until he had emptied his glass.

The Galley Slave's Ring |Eugne Sue
He engaged the lamplighter of the theatre to wear the ragpicker's costume for three weeks, so that it might be suitably dirty.

Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 15, No. 89, May, 1875 |Various
The housewife may apperceive old rags as something to be thrown away; a ragpicker, as something to be gathered up.

The Psychology of Salesmanship |William Walker Atkinson
At intervals, while he rested, I took the book bought from the ragpicker of Soissons, and read passages from the Romancero.

The Memoirs of Victor Hugo |Victor Hugo

A big tear rolled down upon the scrubby beard of the ragpicker.

The Galley Slave's Ring |Eugne Sue