What does "dumpster" mean?

A large, usually metal trash receptacle designed to be hoisted up by a garbage truck in order to be emptied.

What is a synonym for "dumpster"?

Common synonyms include: communal bin, dust bin, dustbin, dustbin, skip, skip.

Dumpster

//ˈdʌmpstɚ// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A large, usually metal trash receptacle designed to be hoisted up by a garbage truck in order to be emptied. Canada, US
"He realized with a brief shudder that Kurt probably used this flashlight while nipple-deep in dumpsters, had an image of Kurt transferring it from his gloved hands to his mouth and back again as he dug through bags of kitchen and toilet waste, looking for discarded technology."
2
a container designed to receive and transport and dump waste wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

communal bin dust bin dustbin dustbin skip skip

Example

More examples

"Hiding from the police, Dima spent the night in a dumpster."

Etymology

Genericized brand name, from blend of dump + Dempster. The original brand (and some associated things) are no longer trademarked, because the three trademarks involved have either expired or been cancelled. By surface analysis, dump + -ster.

More for "dumpster"

Synonyms Sentences Pronunciation Translate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation Browse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.