newsboy

newsboy — noun

1. a young person whose job is to bring newspapers to people's homes or to sell the

1.nounB1
Definition

a young person whose job is to bring newspapers to people's homes or to sell them in public places such as streets and markets

Example

Before school, Caio worked as a newsboy cycling through his neighborhood with papers.

collocation: work as a newsboy

A cold wind blew through the street, but newsboy Tariro called out the afternoon headlines.

Common collocations
  • work as a newsboy
  • call out headlines
  • deliver papers
  • sell newspapers on the street
  • a young newsboy
  • a local newsboy
Synonyms
  • paperboy

    more common in British English; suggests door-to-door delivery rather than street sales

  • newsvendor

    refers to someone who sells newspapers at a stand or kiosk, not necessarily a child

  • paper carrier

    gender-neutral modern term for someone who delivers newspapers to homes

Usage Note

This word is less common today because many newspapers have shifted to digital formats and home delivery is often done by adults in vans. However, it remains a well-known historical term.

Word family

  • newspaper
    nounA2
  • newsgirl
    nounC1
  • newsagent
    nounB1
  • paperboy
    nounB2
  • newsvendor
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Newsboy, paperboy, and paper carrier all refer to someone who delivers newspapers, but they differ in register and gender implication. Newsboy is the oldest term and strongly suggests a young male, though it is sometimes used generically today. Paperboy is common in British English and also implies a boy doing door-to-door delivery, while paper carrier is a modern, gender-neutral alternative preferred in official job descriptions. Newsvendor differs by focusing on street-corner or kiosk sales rather than home delivery. For example: 'A newsboy stood on the corner shouting the evening edition' (street sales, historical feel) vs 'Our paper carrier drops the newspaper at the gate every morning' (modern, home delivery, no age implication).

paperboynewsvendorpaper carrier

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • work as a newsboy

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Newsboy is a compound of the nouns news and boy. News entered English in the late 1300s, originally meaning 'new things' or 'tidings' (it was the plural of the adjective new). Boy comes from Old English, referring to a male child or servant. The compound newsboy first appeared in the mid-1700s, when newspapers became widely printed and street sellers — often children from poor families — became a familiar sight in cities. The term is most strongly associated with the 1800s and early 1900s, when newsboys (sometimes called 'paper boys') were a common urban fixture.