Standard Lemma guide

removalist

noun · 3 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.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

One who advocates the removal of native populations from their land.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, historical

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

One who removes (by profession).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 2008 August, Kimberly Turner, Buzz Kill, Atlanta, page 107, At 7:30 am on a flawless April day, bee removalist Mike Sorensen is already in his truck, fending off phone calls.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A person or company who specialises in domestic removals, that is, the transportation of household contents when moving house.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia

Examples

  • 2005, Chris Cooper, Kym Weatherly (editor), Behind the Private Eye: Surveillance Tales & Techniques, self published, Australia, page 63, It was nearly two hours before there was any further movement, but our wait was richly rewarded as the old Holden returned, together with a large removalist truck.
  • 2006, Allison Burnett, The House Beautiful: A Novel of High Ideals, Low Morals, and Lower Rent, Avalon Publishing, US, page 96, I had wanted to spend the previous night at Pip′s place, so that I could be there when the removalists arrived, but Pip nixed the plan, claiming that my presence would distract him from “pack-pack.”
  • 2011, James Adonis, Corporate Punishment: Smashing the Management Clichs for Leaders in a New World, John Wiley & Sons Australia, page 8, She moved her furniture across without a whimper or a hint of worry. I, on the other hand, hired a removalist just to take my bed from one bedroom to the other.
  • 2011, Tim Bonyhady, Good Living Street, Allen & Unwin, Australia, page 1, Nineteen thirty-eight was a good year to be a removalist in Vienna. As tens of thousands fled the city following the German annexation of Austria, the Nazis seized their businesses, requiring them to pay punitive departure taxes, prevented them from converting their remaining money into foreign currency and stole much of their art. The refudees were usually able to leave with their other household goods, however, because the Nazis were eager to maintain the pretence that Austria′s Jews were leaving voluntarily, and wanted other countries to take them. The result was a surge in demand for removalists in a city where it was common to rent the same apartment for life.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mover

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wre- Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh1- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh1éyetider. Proto-Italic *moweō Proto-Italic *wremoweō Latin removeō Old French removoir Anglo-Norman removerbor. Middle English removen English remove English -al English removal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English removalist From removal + -ist.