different between dustman vs cleaner

English

Etymology

dust +? -man, as household refuse previously consisted largely of ashes (dust) from domestic fires.

Noun

dustman (plural dustmen)

1. (Britain) A person employed to collect refuse from people's homes and take it to be processed.
   • 1960, Lonnie Donegan, "My Old Man's A Dustman"

     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.

Synonyms

• bin man (UK)
• garbage collector (US, Canada)
• garbage man (US, Canada)
• garbo (Australia)
• refuse collector (UK)
• sanitation engineer (US, Canada)
• trashman (US, Canada)

Coordinate terms

• (gender): dustwoman f

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?kli.n?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kli?.n?/
• Rhymes: -i?n?(?)

Etymology 1

clean +? -er (“agent noun”)

Noun

cleaner (plural cleaners)

1. A person whose occupation is to clean floors, windows and other things.
2. A device that cleans, such as the vacuum cleaner.
3. A substance used for cleaning, a cleaning agent.
4. (in the plural) A professional laundry or dry cleaner (business). (This form is now interpreted as plural and usually spelled without an apostrophe, even in official usage, to justify the removal of the apostrophe. It was traditionally spelled cleaner's with an apostrophe because this is grammatically correct, as can be seen with forms such as go to the doctor's, which cannot be reinterpreted as plural.)

   I'll have to take this shirt to the cleaners.

5. (slang) A hitman; a hired assassin, usually in the employ of an organized crime syndicate, such as the mafia.

Derived terms

• cleaner fish
• vacuum cleaner

Related terms

• (sense 3) cleanser
• take to the cleaners

Translations

Etymology 2

clean + -er

Adjective

cleaner

1. comparative form of clean: more clean

Anagrams

• Carlene, reclean