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Synonyms

compactor

American  
[kuhm-pak-ter, kom-pak-] / kəmˈpæk tər, ˈkɒm pæk- /

noun

  1. an appliance that crushes and compresses trash into small convenient bundles.


Etymology

Origin of compactor

First recorded in 1945–50; compact 1 + -or 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Looking like a life jacket thrown into a car compactor, the work weaves a floppy beam of hazard-orange steel around and through a menacing conglomeration of rusty metal scraps.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Rita Cogay, who operates a compactor at the site, told AFP on Friday she had stepped outside to get a drink of water just moments before the building she had been in was crushed.

From Barron's • Jan. 10, 2026

Each garbage compactor — which holds about four tons — was contaminated with medical and hazardous waste, he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2024

They’re going tent to tent, clearing them before throwing whatever items remain in a trash compactor.

From Washington Post • Feb. 15, 2023

He was afraid, he said, of the escalators in the Atlanta airport, which looked like the teeth of some giant trash compactor.

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John

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