dust-cart

A dust-cart collects the bins from the street.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A vehicle for collecting household waste: "dust-cart" refers to a truck or lorry specifically designed for collecting and transporting rubbish, garbage, or refuse from homes and businesses to disposal sites. This term is primarily used in British English.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The dust-cart comes every Tuesday morning to collect our bins. (The rubbish collection vehicle arrives on a regular schedule.)
  • The children waved at the dust-cart as it drove down the street. (The waste collection lorry passed by the children.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be thrown out with the dust-cart": an informal British expression meaning to be discarded or rejected as worthless.

  • His old ideas were thrown out with the dust-cart. (His outdated concepts were dismissed entirely.)

• "dust-cart men": the workers who operate the dust-cart and collect the waste.

  • The dust-cart men are very efficient in this neighbourhood. (The rubbish collectors work effectively.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dustcart (n): an alternative spelling without a hyphen, common in modern British English.

  • The dustcart was late due to the holiday schedule. (The waste collection vehicle was delayed.)

• Dust (n): fine, dry particles of matter, such as dirt or powder, often associated with household waste.

  • There was a layer of dust on the furniture. (Fine dirt covered the surfaces.)

Synonyms

• Rubbish truck: a vehicle for collecting garbage (common in Australian and New Zealand English).
• Garbage truck: a vehicle for collecting waste (common in American English).
• Refuse lorry: a formal term for a waste collection vehicle (British English).
• Bin lorry: an informal British term for a dust-cart.

Related Idioms

• Dust-cart of history: a metaphorical phrase meaning something considered obsolete or worthless that is discarded by time.
  • Those outdated laws belong in the dust-cart of history. (They are no longer relevant and should be forgotten.)