Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Anything worthless.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete Totally worthless object or person; something that is just in the way.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

cumber + ground

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Examples

  • The church and a profession are the best of places for the upright; but the worst in the world for the cumberground.

    The Riches of Bunyan Jeremiah Rev. Chaplin

  • The day will surely come, when I must quit this frail tabernacle, and it may be soon -- I certainly know, I am not of importance eno 'in this world, for any one to wish my stay -- rather am I, and so I consider myself as a cumberground.

    Diary of Anna Green Winslow A Boston School Girl of 1771 Anna Green Winslow 1881

Comments

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  • something totally worthless and in the way.

    January 9, 2008

  • Someone who takes up space.

    December 9, 2008