garbage can

noun

1. a container, usually of metal or plastic, for the disposal of waste matter, especially kitchen refuse.

garbage can

noun

1. a large, usually cylindrical container for refuse, esp one used by a household Also calledash binash cantrash canin Britain (and certain other countries)dustbin

Word History and Origins

Origin of garbage can¹

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

The robot on wheels not only picks up trash on the street, but also transports it to a garbage can, recycling center or waste disposal site in record time.

From Ozy

Those of us who use the trails regularly have noticed this shift, and not always pleasurably, as parking lots and garbage cans overflow and etiquette diminishes.

From Outside Online

The raw material is the bags to line the garbage cans that they bring to us every morning.

From Washington Blade

The craft was the size of a large garbage can, and possibly the most sophisticated machine ever sent into space.

From MIT Technology Review

They blow out of garbage cans, out of landfills, out of trucks and out of people’s hands.

From Science News

I know what they smell like; I can describe it exactly: they smell like a garbage-can.

From Project Gutenberg

Fuselli and another man carried the dripping garbage-can up the ladder that led up from the mess hall.

From Project Gutenberg

The hunchback was sitting on a garbage-can, almost at the entrance.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dustbin
• trash can