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.

---

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

---

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; see also garble, -age

Explanation

If you throw it in the trash, you can call it garbage. Likewise, if something is so terrible you wish you could throw it in the trash, like a really bad movie, you can also call it garbage. Everything in your kitchen trash is garbage — essentially, it's anything that's useless. Garbage can include vegetable scraps, wadded-up paper, or even spoken gibberish. The origin of the word garbage is a little uncertain, though in the 15th century it was used to mean literally "giblets of a fowl," or the extra parts that weren't considered food.

Example Sentences

Bonnie loves Forky, but Forky sees himself as trash, not a toy, and tosses himself into the garbage at every opportunity.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2026

"What is considered garbage for them can still be useful in Thailand," 36-year-old Lookpoo Sathitpanyapon, who runs a Facebook store selling toy keychains, told AFP.

From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026

The lack of fuel has paralysed large sectors of the economy, including rubbish collection, leading to piles of garbage piling up in city streets.

From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026

Pretty to look at, garbage if you’re trying to win a fight.

From Slate • Jun. 14, 2026

A few people were picking through garbage cans, and someone was sleeping on a bench, curled up tight, and there was an enthusiastic game of basketball echoing over from the newly refinished court.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith