dhobi

/ ˈdəʊbɪ /

noun

1. (in India, Malaya, East Africa, etc, esp formerly) a washerman

Word History and Origins

Origin of dhobi¹

C19: from Hindi, from dhōb washing; related to Sanskrit dhāvaka washerman

Example Sentences

"The Raj maintains here a slightly phantasmal sway," wrote Holden, "a situation rich in anomaly and anachronism… The servants are all bearers, the laundryman a dhobi, and the watchman a chowkidar," he wrote, "and on Sundays the guests are confronted with the ancient, and agreeable, Anglo-Indian ritual of a mountainous curry lunch."

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“We have parked our boats in safe places,” Dhobi said.

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In Kutch, where the cyclone was expected to hit land, 57-year-old boat owner and businessman Adam Karim Dhobi said this was the worst storm he’d seen since 1998.

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Varsha, the daughter of a dhobi, or laundry man, wants to be a police officer.

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The couple, their two children, Dhobi's parents and his three younger brothers were struggling to subsist on the erratic sales of the family's small rice and onion crops.

Read more on Los Angeles Times