01 n. The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of th…
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1.
The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the “black guard”; also, the servants and hangers-on of an army.[Obs.]“A lousy slave, that . . . rode with the black guard in the duke's carriage, 'mongst spits and dripping pans.” — Webster (1612).
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2.
The criminals and vagrants or vagabonds of a town or community, collectively.[Obs.]
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3.
A person of stained or low character, esp. one who uses scurrilous language, or treats others with foul abuse; a scoundrel; a rough.“A man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly below those of his class deserves to be called a blackguard.” — Macaulay.
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4.
A vagrant; a bootblack; a gamin.[Obs.]