trash

[ trash ]

noun

1. anything worthless, useless, or discarded; rubbish.
2. foolish or pointless ideas, talk, or writing; nonsense.
3. a worthless or disreputable person.
4. such persons collectively.
5. literary or artistic material of poor or inferior quality.

   Synonyms: tripe, rubbish, twaddle, hogwash, rot, drivel

6. broken or torn bits, as twigs, splinters, rags, or the like.
7. something that is broken or lopped off from anything in preparing it for use.
8. the refuse of sugarcane after the juice has been expressed.
9. Computers. an icon of a trash can that is used to delete files dragged onto it.

verb (used with object)

1. Slang. to destroy, damage, or vandalize, as in anger or protest:

   The slovenly renters had trashed the house.

2. to condemn, dismiss, or criticize as worthless:

   The article trashed several recent best-sellers.

3. to remove the outer leaves of (a growing sugarcane plant).
4. to free from superfluous twigs or branches.

trash

¹

/ træʃ /

verb

1. tr to restrain with or as if with a lead

noun

1. a lead for a dog

trash

²

/ træʃ /

noun

1. foolish ideas or talk; nonsense
2. useless or unwanted matter or objects
3. a literary or artistic production of poor quality
4. a poor or worthless person or a group of such people
5. bits that are broken or lopped off, esp the trimmings from trees or plants
6. the dry remains of sugar cane after the juice has been extracted

verb

1. to remove the outer leaves and branches from (growing plants, esp sugar cane)
2. slang.
   to attack or destroy (someone or something) wilfully or maliciously

Derived Forms

• ˈtrashery, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of trash¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English trasches (plural), apparently cognate with Norwegian trask “rubbish”; akin to Old English trus “brushwood,” Old Norse tros “rubbish”

Word History and Origins

Origin of trash¹

C17: perhaps from obsolete French tracier to track, trace ¹

Origin of trash²

C16: of obscure origin; perhaps related to Norwegian trask

Example Sentences

One man paddles the river in a kayak every day just to collect trash.

From Outside Online

Ideally, you’ll want to train your dog to pee in one or a few spots and keep them away from hosing down anything people might touch or pick up, including trash cans, Mynchenberg says.

From Popular-Science

One day, after he realized that Charlie had thrown the chocolate part of the cookies into the trash, his Dad made him eat the cookie remnants out of the garbage.

From Washington Blade

The wastewater, trash and sediment that continues to flow into San Diego County are a danger to public health and our economy and it must be addressed.

From Voice of San Diego

Single-use plastics contribute to about half of plastic waste, causing wildlife deaths and giant trash gyres in the ocean.

From Voice of San Diego

When two NYPD lieutenants intervened, police say Linsker put the trash can down but resisted arrest.

From The Daily Beast

Aside from producing odors and mountains of trash, they increasingly produce power.

From The Daily Beast

The song went into the trash can of rock and roll history, and it took almost 50 years for it to find the right singer.

From The Daily Beast

The problem runs far deeper, to an absurdly narrow legal definition of ‘corruption’ that throws democracy on the trash heap.

From The Daily Beast

Yeonmi gathered clothes from the trash, while her parents collected water from a dripping tap.

From The Daily Beast

The boy's head was held high, indicative of his opinion of poor white trash and Crackers in general, and Mandy Ann in particular.

From Project Gutenberg

I dare say it is all pretty green, but that is no reason for us to fill the barrow with trash.

From Project Gutenberg

The librarian told me I'd never find a copy, and this was on top of a pile of trash in a second-hand shop right here in this town.

From Project Gutenberg

From South America to Cuba, there is one vast collection of trash imported to catch the pennies of these long-suffering people.

From Project Gutenberg

That was always closed except to open just to take out the trash can.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• debris
• droppings
• junk
• litter
• residue
• rubbish
• rubble
• sediment
• waste