bootblack

American  

[boot-blak] / ˈbutˌblæk /

noun

1. a person who shines shoes and boots boot boots for a living.

---

bootblack British  

/ ˈbuːtˌblæk /

noun

1. another word for shoeblack

---

Etymology

Origin of bootblack

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20; boot ¹ + black

Example Sentences

We don’t think of the thousand other bootblacks who will not meet their benefactors, boys whom the text dismisses as ruffians or ne’er-do-wells or simply never acknowledges at all.

From New York Times

Some bootblacks sat together under a tree talking to a soldier.

From Literature

His pleasure in the attentions of the bootblack’s whisk reflected a consciousness about clothes unusual in a small-town man.

From Literature

He forced himself to remember the dullest things he knew—bootblack, an application form, a wet towel on his bedroom floor.

From Literature

The thing he saw in the averted glance of the servants at his boarding school; the bootblack who tap-danced for a penny.

From Literature