ˈbinman
Also binsman.
1. The man in charge of a bin during hop-picking.
| 1883 J. Stratton Hops & Hop-pick. 31 The pickers are divided into companies..the chief of which is the binman, who is commonly the pole-puller. 1884 Sunday Mag. Sept. 578/2 The ‘bin-man’..is alone permitted thus to go backwards and forwards. |
2. local (esp. North.) and colloq. = dustman.
| a 1966 ‘M. na Gopaleen’ Best of Myles (1968) 300 ‘Where else could that happen but in Ireland!’ That's his supreme and universal apothegm. It embraces, defines and explains..the following occasions: Late arrival and departure... Discovery that bin-man's brother is Field Marshal in army forces of a Great Power unnamed. 1968 Guardian 20 Sept. 24/6 The main problem is the 800 tons a day of domestic and shop refuse which the binmen collect. 1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society viii. 105 Dustmen (or binmen in the North of England) become refuse-collectors. 1986 Daily Tel. 15 Sept. 6/1 Another common request was for..a waste-disposal system that would eliminate the need for bin men. |