gong-fermer

A form of gong farmer — One who dug out and removed human excrement from privies and cesspits.

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Meanings

noungong-fermer (plural gong-fermers)

plural gong-fermers

  1. alternativeAlternative form of gong farmer.

    The gong-fermer disappears in the more refined name of the mazar scourer.

    1872, James E. Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England: from the year after the Oxford Parliament (1259) to the Commencement of the Continental Wat (1793) (Volume 4: 1401-1582), Cambridge University Press, page 512
    2 more examples

    Cesspits were cleaned out by a worker known as a ‘gong-fermer’, who carted the sewage off to manure the vegetable plot.

    2011, Brian Williams, Life in a Medieval Castle, Pitkin Publishing, "Castle Home"

    ‘You do not shy from muck,’ Hew concluded, grimly. ‘That will serve you well, if you have to end your days as a gong-fermer’s servant.’

    2014, Shirley McKay, chapter 14, in Friend & Foe, Polygon
Cite this entry
APA

gong-fermer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gong-fermer

MLA

“gong-fermer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gong-fermer. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gong-fermer,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gong-fermer.

Source: gong-fermer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.