Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) a homeless or destitute person, a tramp.

1889		Kansas Times and Star 28 Nov. n.p.: The brewers, saloon-keepers and sports will meet [...] to provide a turkey feast for the ‘down and outs’ in their line .
1903		Eve. World (NY) 10 Feb. 11/2: Let a man get pokeritis and his name is Dudley Down-and-Out.
1912		Ade Knocking the Neighbors 13: He would read in the Sunday Paper all that Bunk about the Down-and-Outs of the City hiking back to the Soil and making $8,000 a year raising Radishes.
1926		N. Lucas London and its Criminals 151: Huddled on the seats, dozing and muttering uneasily in their sleep, were the usual motley crowd of down-and-outs.
1936		D. Stivens Tramp and Other Stories 154: Probably there might have been other people in the lane—women and men and probably a down-and-out rooting around in a garbage-tin.
1941		V. Davis Phenomena in Crime 93: The part he so ably played, that of a down-and-out.
1953		I. Hamilton Till Human Voices Wake Us 20: When a [...] government puts such downandouts in charge of an intelligent section of the community [etc].
1959		B. Kops Hamlet of Stepney Green Act I: The Art Gallery contained no art and the Public Library contained no public, just one or two down-and-outs reading the long newspapers in the racks.
1960		C. MacInnes Mr Love and Justice (1964) 53: I’ve never yet seen a cop, even got up as a down-and-out or something, who can bear to be seen around if he’s down-at-heel.
1981		T. Wilkinson Down and Out 151: Scarborough Street was one of the most dangerous and squalid places I had visited as a down-and-out.
1999		Indep. Rev. 14 June 4: Down-and-outs may well be seen under Waterloo Bridge.