chaunters
Preserved but no longer current.
Those street sellers of ballads, last copies of verses, and other broadsheets, who sang or bawled the contents of their papers. They often termed themselves PAPER WORKERS. Cheap evening papers and private executions have together combined to improve these folks’ occupations off the face of the earth. See HORSE-CHAUNTERS.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “chaunters” mean?
Those street sellers of ballads, last copies of verses, and other broadsheets, who sang or bawled the contents of their papers. They often termed themselves PAPER WORKERS. Cheap evening papers and private executions have together combined to improve these folks’ occupations off the face of the earth. See HORSE-CHAUNTERS.
Is “chaunters” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.