Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A dealer in reddle or red chalk, usually a sort of peddler. Also raddleman, ruddleman.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A ruddleman

Etymologies

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Examples

  • She was thus convinced that the reddleman was a mere pis aller in Mrs. Yeobright's mind; one, moreover, who had not even been informed of his promotion to that lowly standing.

    The Return of the Native 1878

  • I read about Diggory Venn, Thomas Hardy's reddleman in The Return of the Native who digs up red clay to make dye for sheep's wool.

    Remote Reader by Carrie Tiffany 2010

  • When I rolled over to check the eagles through the viewing slit in the bird hide my eyes took a few seconds to re-adjust, to push back the image of Diggory Venn the reddleman.

    Remote Reader by Carrie Tiffany 2010

  • For instance, the reddleman goes from very clear relationships with local characters to being a man of mysterious origins.

    Ecstatic Days » 2009 » June 2009

  • For instance, the reddleman goes from very clear relationships with local characters to being a man of mysterious origins.

    Revising Fiction by David Madden: Leading by Example (and with TOC Checklist) 2009

  • Venn, the reddleman, in the Mephistophelian garb of his profession, is the incarnation of a good spirit, and wins the guineas from the clutch of the spendthrift husband.

    The Bibliotaph and Other People Leon H. Vincent

  • As Eustacia uttered the latter words she retired from the base of the barrow, and Wildeve followed her, so that the reddleman could hear no more.

    The Return of the Native 1878

  • When he had again regained his van he lit the lantern, and with an apathetic face at once began to pull off his best clothes, till in the course of a few minutes he reappeared as the confirmed and irretrievable reddleman that he had seemed before.

    The Return of the Native 1878

  • The traveller with the cart was a reddleman -- a person whose vocation it was to supply farmers with redding for their sheep.

    The Return of the Native 1878

  • The lamp placed against the post by Clym still shone across the water, and the reddleman observed something floating motionless.

    The Return of the Native 1878

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