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gombeen-man

American

[gom-been-man] / gɒmˈbinˌmæn /

noun

Irish English.

plural

gombeen-men

a usurer or moneylender.

gombeen-man British

/ ˈɡɒmbiːnˌmæn /

noun

a shopkeeper who practises usury

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of gombeen-man

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

The lark shall never come to say To a gombeen-man, "Good day," And the lark shall never cry To a kindly man, "Good-bye."

From The Adventures of Seumas Beg The Rocky Road to Dublin by Stephens, James

See the greedy gombeen-man Taking everything he can From man and woman, dog and cat— And the lark does not like that.

From The Adventures of Seumas Beg The Rocky Road to Dublin by Stephens, James

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023