peddler

/ˈpɛdlər/

/ˈpɛdlə/

Other forms: peddlers

A peddler is a specific type of salesperson: someone who travels from town to town selling their wares.

A peddler is someone who sells things, but it's a very specific type of selling. Peddlers — also known as hawkers and pitchmen — travel from town to town, especially with a carnival or circus. Peddlers are also found on the street, selling many different things, from jewelry to DVDs. There's a shady implication to this word, since peddlers have included people selling snake oil and other worthless products. Instead of buying from a peddler, you're probably better off at a store.

Definitions of peddler

1. noun

   someone who travels about selling wares (as on the streets or at carnivals)
   synonyms: hawker, packman, pedlar, pitchman

   types:

   chapman

   archaic term for an itinerant peddler

   cheapjack

   a peddler of inferior goods

   crier

   a peddler who shouts to advertise the goods he sells

   muffin man

   formerly an itinerant peddler of muffins

   sandboy

   a young peddler of sand; used now only to express great happiness in `happy as a sandboy'

   transmigrante

   a Latin American who buys used goods in the United States and takes them to Latin America to sell

   type of:

   marketer, seller, trafficker, vender, vendor

   someone who promotes or exchanges goods or services for money
2. noun

   an unlicensed dealer in illegal drugs
   synonyms: drug dealer, drug peddler, drug trafficker, pusher

   type of:

   criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw

   someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime

   dealer

   a seller of illicit goods