ghetto blaster

See also: ghettoblaster

English

From ghetto +‎ blaster. First use appears c. 1980. See cite below.

ghetto blaster (plural ghetto blasters)

(slang) A portable stereo system capable of playing music (from several sources) at a relatively high volume; a boom box.
We got tired of him carrying his ghetto blaster down our street every day.
- 1980 May, Fleischer, Leonore, Fame: A Novel‎^[1], page 63:
  “Mr. Johnson, in future I’d like you to leave your ghetto blaster at home, please.” She cast a withering look at the giant radio.
- 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 158:
  Amid the noise of air horns, wolf whistles, and ghetto blasters shouting out old calypso tunes.
(by extension) A car stereo used in a similar way (loudly and, often, rudely); the hooptie in which it is mounted.
We got tired of him driving his ghetto blaster down our street every day.

powerful portable stereo system — see boom box