shantytown

[ shan-tee-toun ]

/ ˈʃæn tiˌtaʊn /

noun

a section, as of a city or town, characterized by shanties and crudely built houses.

a whole town or city that is chiefly made up of shantylike houses.

Nearby words

Origin of shantytown

First recorded in 1880–85; shanty¹ + town

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shantytown

The smells waft through the shantytown of tents and tires known as the Maidan, the main square in Kiev.
My Walk Through Kiev's Maidan Square|Miranda Frum|April 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Shantytown, a crime novella first published in 1998, is the latest.
This Week’s Hot Reads: Nov. 18, 2013|Thomas Flynn|November 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Shantytown succeeds both as a compelling modern noir and a revealing depiction of life in the third world.
This Week’s Hot Reads: Nov. 18, 2013|Thomas Flynn|November 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In Shantytown, the titular slum of Buenos Aires is the backdrop for a series of killings that threaten the entire community.
This Week’s Hot Reads: Nov. 18, 2013|Thomas Flynn|November 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Then one day on set, three slum girls came to watch the crew film in their shantytown.
The Slumdog Stylist|Dale Hrabi|November 22, 2008|DAILY BEAST
I came to my senses in one of the bedrooms of the Shantytown Hotel.
The Blunders of a Bashful Man|Metta Victoria Fuller Victor
Sure you're the sunshine of Mulligan Alley and the belle of Shantytown.
The White Christmas and other Merry Christmas Plays|Walter Ben Hare
She walked back across the freeway to the shantytown and ran into Hilda coming the other way.
Makers|Cory Doctorow
He snorted up damp lungsful of the tropical air and smelled dinners cooking at the shantytown across the street.
Makers|Cory Doctorow
Around him, a slow procession of stall-operators, with their arms full, headed for the freeway and across to the shantytown.
Makers|Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for shantytown

shantytown

/ (ˈʃæntɪˌtaʊn) /

noun

a town or section of a town or city inhabited by very poor people living in shanties, esp in a developing country

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

Word Origin and History for shantytown

shantytown

also shanty town, 1836, from shanty (n.1) + town.