Bidonville

views updated

Bidonville. Shanty town built of oil-drums, petrol-tins, etc. (from bidou, meaning an oil-drum or petrol-tin). By association, any collection of houses or shelters constructed of scrap-metal, e.g. the examples found in Calcutta, India, and Caracas, Venezuela.

Bibliography

OED Supplement, i (1987), 254

More From encyclopedia.com