trash men

Meanings

1. 1nounpluralinformalAmerican

   Workers whose job is to collect household garbage and take it away in a truck.

   Grammar: Plural noun; the singular is trash man, and it usually takes a plural verb: The trash men are here.

   Patterns

   • the trash men come
   • the trash men collect something

   The trash men come early on Tuesday mornings, so I put the bags out the night before.

   She waved to the trash men and gave them cold bottles of water.

   Our street was blocked, so the trash men could not reach the bins.

2. 2nounpluralinformalAmerican

   A group of such workers seen as a team or service.

   Grammar: Used with the, it can mean the whole service rather than particular individuals.

   Patterns

   • call the trash men

   We had to call the trash men because the old sofa would not fit in the bin.

Word forms

Common combinations

the trash men come

The trash men come at six, so don't park in front of the bins.

wave to the trash men

The children like to wave to the trash men from the window.

call the trash men

Call the trash men if your bin is broken.

trash men collect garbage

The trash men collect garbage from every house on the street.

Synonyms and how they differ

garbage collectors

The standard, neutral term; use it in writing or when you want to sound less casual than trash men.

refuse collectors

A more formal term, common in British English and in official job descriptions.

bin men

The everyday British equivalent; it would sound wrong in an American context.

Word family

trash noun

Waste material that people throw away.

trash can noun

A container for household waste, especially in American English.

Commonly confused: trash men or bin men?

Practice

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