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billycan

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: billy-can

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A traditional billycan on a campfire

Etymology

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From billy +‎ can.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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billycan (plural billycans)

  1. (UK, Australia, South Africa) A lightweight pot for cooking or boiling water, used in camping.
    • 1997, Ian Player, Zulu Wilderness: Shadow and Soul[1], page 69:
      The filling of the billycan, cutting the supports to hang it over the fire, was a public show, but many times he would do this anyway to entertain himself. He unpacked the billycan from his old rucksack and I got out the tea and sugar. He filled the billy, then used his penknife to cut sticks to hang it over the fire.
    • 2010, Kerry McGinnis, Wildhorse Creek, unnumbered page:
      Galloping a hundred yards, then jumping off and remounting an excited horse while holding a full billycan of water and beating everyone back over the starting line without spilling it sounded easy – until you tried. Billycans were lost, dropped, trampled underfoot.
    • 2010, Nontsomi Langa, A Xhosa Story: Mbengu-Sonyanganzu, in Harold Scheub, The Uncoiling Python: South African Storytellers and Resistance, page 162,
      When they reached the river, Nqunuse's daughter's billycan began to leak.
    • 2011, Colin Graham Smith, Shadows of War[2], page 43:
      A good billycan was one that had seen many fires, and was pitch black.

Translations

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References

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