squeegee man
Uninvited window cleaner
A squeegee man is someone who approaches cars stopped in traffic—typically at intersections or highway off-ramps—and washes windshields with a squeegee, then asks for payment.
The practice became associated with urban decay in American cities during the 1980s and 1990s, and crackdowns on squeegee men were often cited as examples of "broken windows" policing.
The term can carry connotations of aggressive panhandling: Squeegee men worked every exit off the expressway.
- windshieldVehicle's front glass
- window washingClearing grime from panes
- wiperGlass-clearing blade
- bucketOpen-top carrying vessel
- soapyCovered with suds
car window · dirty water · intersection · stoplight · traffic · street corner · panhandler · hustle · tip · dollar · homeless · urban · urban decay · gritty · New York · Times Square · Rudy Giuliani · broken windows
- street peoplestreet vendor, street performer, street musician, busker, street artist
- criminalsmurderer, thief, burglar, criminal, killer
- hustlershustler, hustlers, street hustler, con artist, grifter
squeegee manlicensed contractor
union worker · business owner · white-collar worker · entrepreneur
squeegee mantraffic cop
Officer directing vehicles
doorman · business owner · pillar of the community · yuppie · gentrifier
squeegee, squeegees, manliness, manhood, unmanned, manned, manning