dustman
(ˈdʌstmən)
[f. as prec. + man.]
1. A man whose occupation it is to collect and cart away dust and refuse from dust-bins, etc.
| 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 399 The Dust-men were not idle. 1714 Gay Trivia ii. 37 The dustman's cart offends thy cloaths and eyes. 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 191 The dustman's call down the area-grate. |
2. colloq. A personification of sleep or sleepiness; in allusion to the rubbing of the eyes as if there were dust in them.
| 1821 P. Egan Tom & Jerry 111 (Farmer) Till the dustman made his appearance and gave the hint to Tom and Jerry that it was time to visit their beds. 1891 Farmer Slang s.v., ‘The dustman's coming’ = you are getting sleepy. |
3. slang. A preacher who uses violent action; a ‘cushion-thumper’.
| 1877 Blackmore Cripps (1887) 368 Sitting under the most furious dustman that ever thumped a cushion. |