dhobying
British naval and military slang for doing the laundry — washing your clothes, whether by hand in a bucket or at a shore facility.
Definitions
British naval and military slang for doing the laundry — washing your clothes, whether by hand in a bucket or at a shore facility. Dhobying comes from the Hindi word 'dhobi,' a washerman or laundryman, and was carried back to Britain by sailors and soldiers who served in India during the colonial era. The term is still understood in military circles and among older British speakers, and a 'dhoby bucket' is naval slang for a washing bucket.
He spent Sunday afternoon dhobying his uniform in the sink because there was no chance of getting to the laundry before Monday inspection.
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(British, naval) The washing of clothes; laundry.
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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Slang for tinea cruris or jock itch — a fungal skin infection affecting the groin, inner thighs, and buttocks. The term originated in British colonial India, where 'dhobi' (a laundry worker) was associated with the spreading of skin infections through shared or improperly cleaned clothing. Now used informally for any groin fungal infection.
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An Anglo-Indian term for a washerman (dhobi) in colonial India, particularly associated with the Deccan and South India. The word may derive from a regional caste or occupational name. Dhobis occupied a specific niche in the colonial household economy, collecting, washing, and returning laundered clothes on a regular schedule.
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