/ · 1894 Brewer’s · B · Beadsman or Bedesman
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
An inhabitant of an almshouse; so called because in Catholic times most charities of this class were instituted that the inmates might “pray for the soul of the founder.” (See Bead.)
“Seated with some grey beadsman.”
Crabbe; Borough.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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