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dustman

American  
[duhst-man, -muhn] / ˈdʌstˌmæn, -mən /

noun

British.
  • dustmen
    plural
  1. a person employed to remove or cart away garbage, refuse, ashes, etc.; garbage collector.


dustman British  
/ ˈdʌstmən /

noun

  1. a man whose job is to collect domestic refuse

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of dustman

First recorded in 1700–10; dust + man

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.

See Examples For:

He took a year out to apply to study law, during which he worked as a dustman, on a kibbutz and as a ballpoint pen salesman in South Africa.

From BBC Oct. 17, 2025

"My daughter has been trying to teach me all of these words like rizz and wasteman which I now understand is not a dustman but rather a waste of space."

From BBC Dec. 2, 2024

She said they could get smitten with “the dustman, the postman, the butcher or the prime minister. It happens to be about the people.”

From New York Times Sep. 21, 2017

And each spinner must give the impression that it is a new organisation, not the trash the dustman left behind.

From Economist May 2, 2013

Squelch's dad's only a dustman but his garden's like a National Trust property.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

The following weekend, Robin and I have our first big fire, disposing of all the rubbish that the dustmen have refused to deal with.

From The Guardian Mar. 27, 2010

After the big day was past, thousands tramped the coronation route, through tattered paper arches and bedraggled festoons, while dustmen recovered tons of paper and empty bottles.

From Time Magazine Archive

THE national dustmen, after entertaining one another with a great many noisy little fights among themselves, had dispersed for the present, and Mr. Gradgrind was at home for the vacation.

From Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Two dustmen were lately disputing the difference between bishop and negus.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 12, No. 329, August 30, 1828 by Various

When Khayyam quittance at Death's hand receives, And sheds his outworn life, as trees their leaves, Full gladly will he sift this world away, Ere dustmen sift his ashes in their sieves.

From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam

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