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dumpster diving

American

Or Dumpster diving

noun

the practice of foraging in garbage that has been put out on the street in dumpsters, garbage cans, etc., for discarded items that may still be valuable, useful, or fixable.

dumpster diving British

/ ˈdʌmpstə /

noun

the practice of searching through dustbins for discarded but still usable or valuable objects such as food or clothes

"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

Etymology

Origin of dumpster diving

First recorded in 1980–85

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:

dumpster diving

Now three companies that operate in California are paying millions following an investigation that included some dumpster diving.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025

The research team went through a process they called "dumpster diving" to find these natural antibiotics.

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2025

Easily available food from avian "dumpster diving," especially at fast-food restaurants, can prove lethal to the birds due to high quantities of salt, fat, sugar, grease and contaminants.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 23, 2024

Lyle and Josh go dumpster diving to find exotic foods: why isn’t this a musical number?

From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2022

“You brought me here to dig through trash. This is your big gesture? This is how you planned to apologize? By taking me dumpster diving in your backyard?”

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023