Phrase guide

pan man

noun · 1 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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1

noun

Meaning 1

A person employed to empty the contents of the outside toilet (i.e. human excrement) at suburban houses (and similar). Rendered obsolete by the introduction of plumbed (i.e. piped) sewerage systems.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

Examples

  • The 'dunny' down the back yard was emptied by the council's pan man once a week. — Susan Marsden, essay Argyle, a port worker's home 19 Forbes Street Carrington New South Wales, describing 1920s way of life there https://web.archive.org/web/20060904141530/http://www.heritage.gov.au/ourhouse/essay7.html

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.