dumpster
/ˈdʌmpstɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.51 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A large, usually metal trash receptacle designed to be hoisted up by a garbage truck in order to be emptied.
Canadian usage; American usage
Example Sentences
- "He realized with a brief shudder that Kurt probably used this flashlight while nipple-deep in dumpsters, had an image of Kurt transferring it from his gloved hands to his mouth and back again as he dug through bags of kitchen and toilet waste, looking for discarded technology."
- "[…]with the uncanny ability to always look like he just woke up in a dumpster"
Etymology
Genericized brand name, from blend of dump + Dempster. The original brand (and some associated things) are no longer trademarked, because the three trademarks involved have either expired or been cancelled. By surface analysis, dump + -ster.
Usage
- Canadian usage
- American usage
- Slang
- Transitive verb
Inflected Forms
dumpsters (plural)
dumpsters (present, singular)
dumpstering (participle, present)
dumpstered (participle, past)
dumpstered (past)