Word.ws English Dictionary

Dick Whittington

Dick Whittington noun: somebody who moves to London in the hope of better prospects.

Noun

Dick Whittington (plural Dick Whittingtons)

  1. (UK) Somebody who moves to London in the hope of better prospects.
    • "Fine! Ye couldn't beat it. And you'd go off to London, or some such place—"
      "I should like it to be London."
      "Oh, of course; there's plenty of Dick Whittingtons left yet. But there's more petrol than pearls about the London pavement now. […]1911, The Sunday at Home, page 194
    • Britain's twenty-somethings have become iPod-carrying Dick Whittingtons, drawn to London by the prospect of large salaries and hopes of a vibrant social life.2009, What's Up, Britain?, page 42

Forms of Dick Whittington

pluralDick Whittingtons

Origin of Dick Whittington

After Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423), English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London and financed various public projects. He is remembered in a pantomime called Dick Whittington and His Cat, in which he sets out for London to make his fortune.

Questions about Dick Whittington

What does Dick Whittington mean?
Dick Whittington means somebody who moves to London in the hope of better prospects.
What part of speech is Dick Whittington?
Dick Whittington is a noun.
What is the plural of Dick Whittington?
The plural of Dick Whittington is Dick Whittingtons.

Words near Dick Whittington in the dictionary

  1. dick togs
  2. Dick Tracy
  3. dick up
  4. dick weed
  5. dick weeds
  6. Dick Whittington
  7. Dick Whittingtons
  8. dick worm
  9. dick worms
  10. Dick's hatband
  11. dick-ache

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Dick Whittington (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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