dumpster
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of dumpster
First recorded in 1935–40; dump ( def. ) + -ster ( def. ), originally part of the jingle “Dempster Dumpster, ” a trademark for a large trash container manufactured by the Dempster Brothers Company in Knoxville, Tennessee
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.
“When Khomeini died, the Islamic Republic was a dumpster fire,” said Afshon Ostovar, associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. “Khamenei, through guile and persistence, was able to achieve something pretty miraculous. He turned Iran into a regional power that controlled a pretty wide geography.”
“Some people are free to choose between five-star restaurants, while others choose which dumpster will provide their next meal,” Morello said.
From Los Angeles Times
“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 Literature
They have to be tilted into a dumpster that is moved into position, but Alexander makes the comic most of these clumsier stage mechanics.
From Los Angeles Times
In Darnold’s case, that fire was the dumpster blaze known as the New York Jets.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
