释义 |
mendicity noun[ U ] formaluk /menˈdɪs.ə.ti/ us /menˈdɪs.ə.t̬i/ the practice of asking for food or money because you are poor: She had organized a "society of paupers" to combat the problem of mendicity. These beggars and petty thieves had turned to mendicity or to crime through circumstance. Mendicity keeps many poor people from actual starvation. They had given up all their possessions and lived a life of mendicity and devotion. He wisely remarked that the poor should be treated generously so that mendicity would not lead to crime. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases Homelessness bag lady be of/have no fixed abode/addressidiom couch surf couchsurfing derelict doss dumping ground homeless homelessness hostel housing benefit mendicancy sofa-surf sofa-surfing soup kitchen street street child vagrancy waif waifs and straysidiom |