used-to-be

English

Adjective

used-to-be (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Former, ex-.
   • 1888, Daily Evening Bulletin, Maysville, Kentucky, 3 September, 1888,^[1]

     Milburn Ellis, a used-to-be resident of this place, but now of the Grasshopper Country […] is visiting relatives here.

   • 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, chapter 5, in Their Eyes Were Watching God‎^[2], University of Illinois Press, published 1978, page 76:

     Said it was a spittoon just like his used-to-be bossman used to have in his bank up there in Atlanta.

   • 1980 November, Dave Pankey, “Mount St. Helens”, in All Volunteer, volume 33, number 11, page 5:

     “The mudflow destroyed houses on the eastern edge of my used-to-be recruiting area,” said [Staff Sergeant] David Orman of the Longview [recruiting station].

   • 1983, Simon J. Ortiz, “3 Women”, in Fightin’: New and Collected Stories‎^[3], Chicago: Thunder’s Mouth Press, page 79:

     […] I love her but something’s not there. I don’t even know if it’s love anymore. Maybe it’s just a used-to-be love.

   • 2004, Adrienne Rich, “Dislocations: Seven Scenarios,” 4, in The School Among the Ruins: Poems 2000-2004, New York: Norton, p. 88,^[4]

     her / orders don’t necessarily / get obeyed / because / the government / is paying / and the / used-to-be / warriors / are patients

See also

• has-been

Anagrams

• doubtees