Definition of "gadling"

gadling

noun
plural gadlings
1. (obsolete) A companion in arms, fellow, comrade.
  Quotations
  Gedlyngis, I am a fulle grete wat.
  14th century, unknown author, "The Killing of Abel", Towneley Cycle, manuscript of mid 15th century
2. A roving vagabond; one who roams
  Quotations
  I'm delighted to see you. You're as brown, my gadling, as though you had returned from another journey to the East with Jean de Village.
  1947, Thomas Bertram Costain, The Moneyman‎, digitized edition, Doubleday, published 2006, page 57
3. A man of humble condition; a fellow; a low fellow; lowborn; originally comrade or companion, in a good sense, but later used in reproach
  Quotations
  “Pest on him!” said De Aquila. “I have more to do than to shiver in the Great Hall for every gadling the King sends. Left he no word?”
  1906, Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill‎, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008, page 96
4. A spike on a gauntlet; a gad.