subs. (conventional).—A prostitute: spec. a homeless street-walker (GROSE). [Probably, in the first place, the popular usage arose from a misreading of Hood’s lines.]

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  [1827.  HOOD, The Bridge of Sighs.

        One more UNFORTUNATE,
Weary of breath,
Rashly importunate,
Gone to her death!]

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  1877.  Mallock, The New Republic, III. ii. Hoping I might see some UNFORTUNATE cast herself from the Bridge of Sighs.

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