pan man

noun

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.

Meanings

nounpan man (plural pan men)

plural pan men

  1. obsoleteA 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.
    1 more example

    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

Cite this entry
APA

pan man. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pan%20man

MLA

“pan man.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pan%20man. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pan man,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pan%20man.

Source: pan man on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.