"Trigger's broom" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From the episode \"Heroes and Villains\" (1996) of the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses, where the character Trigger receives an award for saving the council money by using the same broom for twenty years, despite it receiving seventeen new heads and fourteen new handles.",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
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          "ref": "2021, Neil Prior, “Barmouth Bridge: 'Trigger's broom' bridge to get £30m upgrade”, in BBC News:",
          "text": "Much like Trigger's broom, there is little remaining of the original 1867 Barmouth Bridge in north-west Wales.",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "2025 August 16, Steven Morris, “‘Quite a project’: refurbishing the chains of Clifton Suspension Bridge”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s stucture may have been built with difficulty but it has stood the test of time and still has 99% of its original ironwork. “It’s not like Trigger’s broom,” said [Trish] Johnson, alluding to the road sweeper’s brush – which had 17 new heads and 14 new handles – in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses.",
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          "ref": "2025 September 16, Mary Margaret McCabe, “Equalising effect of philosophy in prisons”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The puzzle of Trigger’s broom, for example, can generate a joyous discussion of identity, time, the rights of work, relativism, freedom and responsibility, and happiness – where the whole room is focused and participating.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An object that has had all of its components replaced; a ship of Theseus."
      ],
      "id": "en-Trigger's_broom-en-name-onUsz6d5",
      "links": [
        [
          "ship of Theseus",
          "ship of Theseus"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK) An object that has had all of its components replaced; a ship of Theseus."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Only Fools and Horses"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Trigger's broom"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From the episode \"Heroes and Villains\" (1996) of the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses, where the character Trigger receives an award for saving the council money by using the same broom for twenty years, despite it receiving seventeen new heads and fourteen new handles.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "Trigger's broom"
      },
      "expansion": "Trigger's broom",
      "name": "en-prop"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English eponyms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proper nouns",
        "English terms derived from fiction",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
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          "ref": "2021, Neil Prior, “Barmouth Bridge: 'Trigger's broom' bridge to get £30m upgrade”, in BBC News:",
          "text": "Much like Trigger's broom, there is little remaining of the original 1867 Barmouth Bridge in north-west Wales.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              164,
              179
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2025 August 16, Steven Morris, “‘Quite a project’: refurbishing the chains of Clifton Suspension Bridge”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s stucture may have been built with difficulty but it has stood the test of time and still has 99% of its original ironwork. “It’s not like Trigger’s broom,” said [Trish] Johnson, alluding to the road sweeper’s brush – which had 17 new heads and 14 new handles – in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              14,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2025 September 16, Mary Margaret McCabe, “Equalising effect of philosophy in prisons”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The puzzle of Trigger’s broom, for example, can generate a joyous discussion of identity, time, the rights of work, relativism, freedom and responsibility, and happiness – where the whole room is focused and participating.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An object that has had all of its components replaced; a ship of Theseus."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "ship of Theseus",
          "ship of Theseus"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK) An object that has had all of its components replaced; a ship of Theseus."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Only Fools and Horses"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Trigger's broom"
}