Anglo-Indian historical slang for a land surveyor, combining the instrument of the trade ('compass') with the Hindi suffix '-wallah' (a person associated with a particular thing or job). The term was used informally in colonial India and reflects the pidgin-flavoured vocabulary that developed between British administrators and the local population.
The compass-wallah spent weeks mapping the district before the railway line could be planned.
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(India, historical, colloquial) A surveyor.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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