A wandering, idle person; a strolling or sturdy beggar. A general term, including, in English law , the several classes of idle and disorderly persons , rogues, and vagabonds, and incorrigible rogues. 4 Steph. Comm. 308. 309. In American law , the term is variously defined by statute but the general meaning is that of an able-bodied person having no visible means of support and who lives idly without seeking work, or who is a professional beggar, or roams about from place to place without regular employment or fixed residence; and in some states the term also includes those who have a fixed habitation and pursue a regular calling but one which is condemned by the law as immoral, such as gambling or prostitution . See In re Jordan, 90 Mich. 3, 50 N. W. 10S7; In re Aldermen and Justices of the Peace, 2 Pars. Eq. Cas. (Pa.) 404; Roberts v. State, 14 Mo. 145, 55 Am. Dec. 97. And see the statutes of the various states.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
