What does dustmen mean?
Dustmen is the plural of dustman, an occupational term chiefly used in British English for people who collect household and commercial refuse. The word commonly refers to municipal or contracted workers who empty bins and remove rubbish, and it is often used collectively, as in a statement about the dustmen serving a particular street or district. In the United States, the term is less frequent than garbage collectors, trash collectors, or sanitation workers, although it is not entirely unknown. Dustmen is usually neutral in connotation, though the older occupational label can sound traditional or faintly nostalgic in contemporary Britain. Its vocabulary history preserves an older association between refuse work and dust, while also serving as a distinctive regional marker in ordinary speech.
nounThe plural form of dustman, referring to workers who collect household and commercial refuse. The word is most commonly used for municipal or contracted refuse collectors.
- Plural of dustman: workers who collect household, commercial, or other refuse, especially in Britain.
"The dustmen emptied the bins along the street before the morning traffic began."
"The dustmen collect the rubbish twice a week on this route."
"Local residents complained that the dustmen had missed several streets."
Dustmen is the standard plural of dustman and usually refers collectively to refuse collectors.
"The dustmen were delayed by heavy traffic."
In British English, the everyday work of collecting household rubbish is literally called dust: the people doing it are dustmen.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does dustmen come from?
Dustman is an English compound formed from dust and man. Both elements have Old English ancestry: dust for fine powder or dirt and man for a human being. The compound developed into an occupational label for a worker responsible for removing dust, waste, and refuse, with its clearest modern use as a name for a refuse collector. The term is especially associated with British English and has cognate occupational forms in other Germanic languages, although the precise historical development of each is separate.
Related word forms
How dustmen is actually used
Usually collective and plural in normal use. It is familiar and sometimes slightly old-fashioned, especially in Britain; American speakers more often say garbage collectors or sanitation workers.
Easily confused with dustmen
A dustman is a person who removes rubbish, whereas a duster is typically a cloth or tool used to remove dust from surfaces.