Phrase guide

dumpster diving

noun · verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdʌmpstəˈdaɪvɪŋ/
  • General-American: /ˈdʌmpstɚˈdaɪvɪŋ/
  • rhymes with -aɪvɪŋ

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of recovering, for any purpose, discarded items that would otherwise be sent to a landfill.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: binning, D-Mart, dumpstering, garbage gleaning, garbage picking, garbing, skip-raiding, skipping, tatting, trashing

Antonyms: none provided

Narrower terms: binology

2

verb

Meaning 2

present participle of dumpster dive

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 垃圾搜尋 /垃圾搜寻 (lèsèsōuxún) — act of recovering discarded items
  • Czech: vybírání odpadků — act of recovering discarded items
  • Danish: skraldning — act of recovering discarded items
  • Finnish: dyykkaus — act of recovering discarded items
  • Finnish: roskisdyykkaus — act of recovering discarded items
  • French: déchétarisme — act of recovering discarded items
  • French: glanage alimentaire — act of recovering discarded items
  • French: trésordure — act of recovering discarded items
  • German: Dumpstern — act of recovering discarded items
  • German: Containern — act of recovering discarded items
  • Hungarian: guberálás — act of recovering discarded items
  • Hungarian: turkálás — act of recovering discarded items
  • Hungarian: kukabúvárkodás — act of recovering discarded items
  • Japanese: ゴミ漁り (gomiisari) — act of recovering discarded items
  • Norwegian Bokmål: søppeldykking — act of recovering discarded items
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: søppeldykking — act of recovering discarded items
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: dumpsterdiving — act of recovering discarded items
  • Spanish: recolección urbana — act of recovering discarded items
  • Spanish: cirujeo — act of recovering discarded items
  • Swedish: containerdykning — act of recovering discarded items
  • Swedish: sopdykning — act of recovering discarded items
  • Swedish: dumpstring — act of recovering discarded items