Tramp vs Stiff - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between tramp and stiff

is that tramp is a homeless person, a vagabond while stiff is an average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff or lucky stiff.

As verbs the difference between tramp and stiff

is that tramp is to walk with heavy footsteps while stiff is to fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.

As an adjective stiff is

of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible.

tramp

English

Noun

(en noun)

(pejorative) A homeless person, a vagabond.

She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had thought to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp .

(pejorative) A disreputable, promiscuous woman; a slut.

"I can't believe you'd let yourself be seen with that tramp ."

"Claudia is such a tramp ; making out with all those men when she has a boyfriend."

Any ship which does not have a fixed schedule or published ports of call.

* 1888 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), :

I was so happy on board that ship, I could not have believed it possible. We had the beastliest weather, and many discomforts; but the mere fact of its being a tramp -ship gave us many comforts; we could cut about with the men and officers, stay in the wheel-house, discuss all manner of things, and really be a little at sea.

* 1919 , Charles Fort, :

Then I think I conceive of other worlds and vast structures that pass us by, within a few miles, without the slightest desire to communicate, quite as tramp vessels pass many islands without particularizing one from another.

* 1924 , George Sutherland, :

Some of these are regular ocean liners; others are casual tramp ships.

* 1960 , (Lobsang Rampa), :

“Hrrumph,” said the Mate. “Get into uniform right away, we must have discipline here.” With that he stalked off as if he were First Mate on one of the Queens instead of just on a dirty, rusty old tramp ship.

(Australia, New Zealand) A long walk, possibly of more than one day, in a scenic or wilderness area.

* 1968 , John W. Allen, It Happened in Southern Illinois , page 75:

The starting place for the tramp is reached over a gravel road that begins on Route 3 about a mile south of Gorham spur.

* 2005 , Paul Smitz, Australia & New Zealand on a Shoestring , Lonely Planet, page 734:

Speaking of knockout panoramas, if you?re fit then consider doing the taxing, winding, 8km tramp' up ' Mt Roy (1578m; five to six hours return), start 6km from Wanaka on Mt Aspiring Rd.

* 2006 , Marc Llewellyn, Lee Mylne, Frommer?s Australia from $60 a Day , page 186:

The 1½-hour tramp passes through banksia, gum, and wattle forests, with spectacular views of peaks and valleys.

, especially a very small one.

Synonyms

* (homeless person) bum, hobo, vagabond ** See also * (disreputable woman) See also * (type of ship) see * (long walk) bushwalk, hike, ramble, trek

Derived terms

* tramp ant * tramp stamp

Verb

(en verb)
To walk with heavy footsteps.

To walk for a long time (usually through difficult terrain).

We tramped through the woods for hours before we found the main path again.

To hitchhike

To tread upon forcibly and repeatedly; to trample.

To travel or wander through.

to tramp the country

(Scotland) To cleanse, as clothes, by treading upon them in water.

(Jamieson)

Derived terms

* trample * tromp

References

* ----

stiff
English

Adjective
(er)
Of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible.

*

*:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff , retroussé moustache.

(lb) Of policies and rules and their application and enforcement, inflexible.

Of a person, formal in behavior, unrelaxed.

(lb) Harsh, severe.

:

Of muscles, or parts of the body, painful, as a result of excessive, or unaccustomed exercise.

:

Potent.

:

Dead, deceased.

Of a penis, erect.

Quotations
* (English Citations of "stiff")
Derived terms
* stiffy
Noun
(en noun)
An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff''''' or ''lucky '''stiff .

A Working Stiff' s Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember was published in 2003.

A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.

She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.

(slang) A cadaver, a dead person.

(US) A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.

Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.

See also
* bindlestiff * See also ,
Verb
(en verb)
To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.

Realizing he had forgotten his wallet, he stiffed the taxi driver when the cab stopped for a red light.

* 1946 , William Foote Whyte, Industry and Society , page 129

We asked one girl to explain how she felt when she was "stiffed ." She said, You think of all the work you've done and how you've tried to please [them…].

* 1992 , Stephen Birmingham, Shades of Fortune , page 451

You see, poor Nonie really was stiffed' by Adolph in his will. He really ' stiffed her , Rose, and I really wanted to right that wrong.

* 2007 , Mary Higgins Clark, I Heard That Song Before , page 154

Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.

Anagrams
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