Badge-men
. Alms-house men; so called because they wear some special dress, or other badge, to indicate that they belong to a particular foundation.
“He quits the gay and rich, the young and free,
Among the badge-men with a badge to be.”
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Entry taken from
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,
edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.