dunghill
Americannoun
-
a heap of dung
-
a foul place, condition, or person
Etymology
Origin of dunghill
Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; see origin at dung, hill
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He once described himself to one of his children as “a machine condemned to devour books and then throw them, in a changed form, on the dunghill of history.”
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 3, 2016
Jefferson said the work was like extracting diamonds from a dunghill.
From Salon ● May 31, 2012
For a great many, the dunghill has become a natural habitat.
From Time Magazine Archive
Outside New Delhi, where one Indian critic relegated it to "the dunghill of propaganda," Maxwell's assessment is widely accepted.
From Time Magazine Archive
Now, madam, you know I’m only a cat, a common dunghill cat, and have only common dunghill notions, but here are my sentiments.
From The Domestic Cat by Gordon Stables
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
