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garbageman

American  
[gahr-bij-man] / ˈgɑr bɪdʒˌmæn /

noun

  • garbagemen
    plural
  1. a person employed to collect, haul away, and dispose of garbage; sanitation worker.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of garbageman

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; garbage + 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:

In his 20 years as a garbageman in Montreal, Mr. Paré-Poupart, now 41, has hauled some 70,000 tons of trash.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 12, 2026

Opening on Broadway in 1987, the play ran for more than a year, starring James Earl Jones as her husband, Troy, a bitter garbageman who played Negro League baseball before serving time in prison.

From Washington Post Jul. 28, 2022

Not only does he star as a garbageman who goes by the moniker Clean, but he also produced the film, composed the score and contributed original music.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 27, 2022

But one student, Eddie, declared, “I want to be a garbageman like my father.”

From New York Times Dec. 19, 2020

“There are teachers I know who are making half of what the garbageman makes.”

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

The tragedy, of course, is that they fall out of love with garbagemen as they grow older: “socialization,” writes the author, draws a line “between decency and dirt.”

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 12, 2026

“I kind of think about them as the little garbagemen of the forest,” Marek said.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 13, 2023

In the course of his investigation, the commissario interviews one of the garbagemen, or spazzini, from whom he gleans a damning piece of evidence.

From New York Times Mar. 24, 2021

They’re left for days or weeks for a time on public rights of way, blocking curb access for garbagemen, emergency vehicles, and pedestrians trying to cross the street.

From Slate Apr. 4, 2018

A dismal assignment, I thought: garbagemen to the inmates.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

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