garbage

American  

[gahr-bij] / ˈgɑr bɪdʒ /

noun

1. discarded animal and vegetable matter, as from a kitchen; refuse.

2. any matter that is no longer wanted or needed; trash.

3. a bin or other receptacle for discarded matter, especially kitchen waste; garbage can.

   Hey, who threw my leftover pizza in the garbage?

   Synonyms:

   taradiddle, malarkey, hogwash, claptrap, bunkum, nonsense, waste, trash, rubbish, junk, refuse, litter

4. anything that is contemptibly worthless, inferior, or vile.

   There's nothing but garbage on TV tonight.

5. worthless talk; lies; foolishness.

6. Informal. any unnecessary item added to something else, as for appearance only; garnish.

   I'll have an Old Fashioned, but without the garbage.

7. useless artificial satellites or parts of rockets floating in space, as satellites that are no longer transmitting information or rocket boosters jettisoned in flight.

8. Computers. meaningless or unwanted data.

   That program was not properly debugged and produced nothing but garbage.

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garbage British  

/ ˈɡɑːbɪdʒ /

noun

1. worthless, useless, or unwanted matter

2. Also called: rubbish.  discarded or waste matter; refuse

3. computing invalid data

4. informal nonsense

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Etymology

Origin of garbage

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English garbage, gabage “discarded parts of butchered fowls; entrails of fowls used for human food”; compare with Middle English garbelage “removal of refuse from spices,” Middle English garbelure “refuse found in spices,” and Old French garbage (also jarbage ) “tax on sheaves of grain,” but the shift of sense here is unclear; further origin uncertain; garble, -age

Example Sentences

"It was like a hoarder's house with garbage bags everywhere... a mess," added Curreri.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

These aren’t kitchen-sink movies; they’re garbage disposal rejects, alloys composed of leftover scraps.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026

But as we would find out, our smog — photochemical smog — made the air taste like poison and look like something you’d put out with the garbage.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

It is now swept by local and nationwide blackouts, a failing electrical grid, food shortages, rationing, shrinking services—famously, limited garbage collection.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

I couldn’t lift the garbage can either, so I had to get my dad to help.

From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones