n. One who travels with a carpet-bag; specifically, a person who takes up his residence in a place, with no more property than he brings in a carpet-bag, with a view of making his way by enterprise.n. In the western United States, a “wildcat” banker, that is, one who had no local abiding-place, and could not be found when wanted. In the Southern States, after the civil war, a new-comer from the North: an opprobrious term applied properly to a class of adventurers who took advantage of the disorganized condition of political affairs in the earlier years of reconstruction to gain control of the public offices and to use their influence over the negro voters for their own selfish ends. The term was often extended to include any unpopular person of Northern origin living in the South.