Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One whose employment is the removal of dust, rubbish, or garbage.
- noun The genius of sleep in popular sayings and folklore: so named because the winking and eye-rubbing of a sleepy child are as if he had dust in his eyes.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One whose employment is to remove dirt and refuse; a garbage man.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK Someone whose job it is to collect
refuse from people's homes and take it to be processed.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun someone employed to collect and dispose of refuse
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Her mantra was whatever you wanted to do, whether you wanted to be a dustman or a zookeeper, that was absolutely brilliant as long as you did it to the best of your abilities.
The famous Fiennes 2011
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And, although shunted into the part at short notice, Michael Feast catches Alfred Doolittle's transition from happily drunken dustman to respectable middle-class morality: like his daughter, in fact, he is both victim, and beneficiary, of Higgins's caprice.
Pygmalion - review 2011
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• In 1989 Nicholas Ridley, the minister for the environment in the Conservative government, tried to defend the poll tax as "fair" on the grounds that "a duke would pay the same as a dustman".
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Whilst working as a dustman in the late sixties Corona bottles and other 'returnables' were very much a part of our perks, sometimes producing up to £2 or £3 a week ... the age of the affluent society was already upon us when people couldn't be arsed to take them back.
Fizzzz Pop! Peter Ashley 2008
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Playing "My old man's a dustman" would probably not harm anyone, might even increase the enjoyment of the cup final, but that's ntot the point - there has to be a valid reason for playing it.
Shall we sing a song for you? O'Neill 2008
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I remember Rowan falling on to a jagged baked bean can dropped by the dustman on the path, and rather envying him the drama of the dash to the hospital and the impressive bandage.
Hancox: All under one roof Charlotte Moore 2010
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On the contrary, it seems there will be even further politicisation of HM's 'boys in blue' (or 'boys/girls in dustman flourescent/helmeted riot gear/Stasi social spies' with the front line essential responses devolved to inexperienced, under-trained and underpaid council workers).
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The problem with the fluorry jacket is that is equipment not uniform and as such it is not designed to be worn all the time (unless you are a dustman).
T Shirts/ Polo Shirts **UPDATE** « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2008
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He started out as a Dublin dustman and became one of the founding fathers of the resurgence of the Temple Bar district of the capital.
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When I was a dustman it didn't put me off my sandwiches.
Monty Don: 'I often eat cakes while my fingers are caked in soil' John Hind 2010
yarb commented on the word dustman
In the UK, a garbage collector or binman.
January 15, 2009
sionnach commented on the word dustman
Now here's a little story
To tell it is a must
About an unsung hero
That moves away your dust
Some people make a fortune
Other's earn a mint
My old man don't earn much
In fact....he's flippin'.....skint
Oh, my old man's a dustman
He wears a dustman's hat
He wears cor blimey trousers
And he lives in a council flat
He looks a proper narner
In his great big hob nailed boots
He's got such a job to pull em up
That he calls them daisy roots
Some folks give tips at Christmas
And some of them forget
So when he picks their bins up
He spills some on the steps
Now one old man got nasty
And to the council wrote
Next time my old man went 'round there
He punched him up the throat
Oh, my old man's a dustman
He wears a dustman's hat
He wears cor blimey trousers
And he lives in a council flat
I say, I say Duncan
I 'er...I found a police dog in my dustbin
(How do you know he's a police dog)
He had a policeman with him
Though my old man's a dustman
He's got a heart of gold
He got married recently
Though he's 86 years old
We said 'Ear! Hang on Dad
you're getting past your prime'
He said 'Well when you get to my age'
'It helps to pass the time'
Oh, my old man's a dustman
He wears a dustman's hat
He wears cor blimey trousers
And he lives in a council flat
I say, I say, I say
My dustbins full of lillies
(Well throw 'em away then)
I can't Lilly's wearing them
Now one day while in a hurry
He missed a lady's bin
He hadn't gone but a few yards
When she chased after him
'What game do you think you're playing'
She cried right from the heart
'You've missed me...am I too late'
'No... jump up on the cart'
Oh, my old man's a dustman
He wears a dustman's hat
He wears cor blimey trousers
And he lives in a council flat
I say, I say, I say (What you again)
My dustbin's absolutely full with toadstools
(How do you know it's full)
'Cos there's not much room inside
He found a tiger's head one day
Nailed to a piece of wood
The tiger looked quite miserable
But I suppose it should
Just then from out a window
A voice began to wail
He said (Oi! Where's me tiger head)
Four foot from it's tail
Oh, my old man's a dustman
He wears a dustman's hat
He wears cor blimey trousers
And he lives in a council flat
Next time you see a dustman
Looking all pale and sad
Don't kick him in the dustbin
It might be my old dad
January 15, 2009
yarb commented on the word dustman
Oi! Lonnie Donnegan innit. 'Avin a right-good knees-up rahnd the Joanner.
January 15, 2009
MaryW commented on the word dustman
Dan Fagin, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation (New York: Bantam Books, 2014), p. 85February 7, 2016