dumpster

noun

dump·​ster ˈdəm(p)-stər How to pronounce dumpster (audio)
variants or less commonly Dumpster
: a large trash receptacle

Examples of dumpster in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But later that day Haskell was spotted by witnesses and caught on surveillance video discarding one of the bags into a dumpster at an Encino strip mall five miles away. Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 14 July 2025 Researchers have tracked other gulls returning to the same urban food sources again and again, such as a dumpster behind a deli. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 July 2025 According to the complaint, video footage from May 13 showed a garbage truck emptying the contents of a large dumpster behind Collins Sr.’s apartment. Kathryn Kovalenko, Twin Cities, 9 July 2025 Authorities searched a dumpster at Mic Mac campground on Monday, according to WGME. July 9, CBS News, 9 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for dumpster

Word History

Etymology

dump entry 1 + -ster (originally in the trademarked name Dempster Dumpster, applied to mechanically loaded refuse containers produced by the Dempster Brothers Company of Knoxville, Tennessee)

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of dumpster was in 1937

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dumpster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dumpster. Accessed 25 Jul. 2025.

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