Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A young chimney-sweep who climbed chimneys from the inside. Chimney-sweeping by climbing-boys is now prohibited.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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In the villages of the Teme valley, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, "in the old climbing-boy days, chimneys used to be swept on New Year's morning, that one of the right sex should be the first to enter; and the young urchins of the neighbourhood went the round of the houses before daylight singing songs, when one of their number would be admitted into the kitchen 'for good luck all the year.'"
Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan Clement A. Miles
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In gratitude for the recovery of her son, Mrs. Montagu entertained every climbing-boy in London at dinner on the anniversary of her son's return, and arranged that they should all have a holiday on that day.
The Days Before Yesterday Frederick Spencer Hamilton 1892
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On a certain 1st of May the sweeps arrived to clean Mrs. Montagu's chimneys, and a climbing-boy was sent up to his horrible task.
The Days Before Yesterday Frederick Spencer Hamilton 1892
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Avarice is merely a tinker, a dealer in old metal; but ambition is a chimney-sweep of a passion: a mere climbing-boy, who will go through any dirty hole in all Christendom only to get out at the top of the chimney.
The King's Highway 1830
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