A young gadge or vagrant; someone of low social status or disreputable character, particularly in dialect use.
From gadge with the diminutive suffix -ling (meaning small or inferior), following English patterns like duckling, stripling, and weakling.
The -ling suffix has an interesting history—it started as a straightforward diminutive but often became dismissive or contemptuous; 'gadling' captures this perfectly, referring to a young vagrant with a slight tone of social disapproval built into the word itself.
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