town crier
Preserved but no longer current.
A municipal official who goes about the streets, usually in a robe, ringing a bell and crying, Oyez! Oyez! (q.v.) to attract attention to his proclamations of notices, coming events, lost property, etc.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “town crier” mean?
A municipal official who goes about the streets, usually in a robe, ringing a bell and crying, Oyez! Oyez! (q.v.) to attract attention to his proclamations of notices, coming events, lost property, etc.
Is “town crier” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.