a small, thin person, usually a child, who looks as if they do not have enough to eat 瘦小的人；（通常指）面黄肌瘦的小孩 the waifs and strays of our society (= people with no home) 我们社会的弃儿
Word Originlate Middle English: from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old Northern French gaif, probably of Scandinavian origin. Early use was often in waif and stray, as a legal term denoting a piece of property found and, if unclaimed, falling to the lord of the manor.