hawker
A traveling peddler selling goods door to door or on the road.
Also called peddler, huckster.
Updated September 24, 2026
hawker pronunciation
/HAW-ker/
Meaning
In country talk, a hawker is the fellow who shows up with a case of brushes, spices, or patent medicine and tries to sell you something before supper. He is not a store clerk. He works the road, the porch, and the county fair. Older folks remember hawkers the way younger ones remember online ads: hard to dodge and always pitching.
How folks use it
- “Mama wouldn't buy from every hawker that knocked, but she liked the Watkins man.”
- “That hawker had half the porch filled with junk before I could say no.”
Origin and etymology
Older English for an itinerant seller, tied to the verb "hawk" (to cry goods for sale) and related to "huckster." Roots go back through Middle Low German peddling words. Rural Southern speech kept the word for door-to-door and roadside sellers long after big-box stores took over town.
Frequently asked questions
Is a hawker the same as a falconer?
No. That is a different "hawker," someone who flies hawks. This one sells stuff.