garbage

noun

gar·​bage ˈgär-bij How to pronounce garbage (audio)
Synonyms of garbagenext
1
a
: food waste
b
: discarded or useless material
2
a
: trash sense 1b
b
: inaccurate or useless data

Synonyms

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 

Examples of garbage in a Sentence

The park was littered with garbage. Please take out the garbage. Raccoons were going through the garbage. Throw the can in the garbage. If you ask me, what he said is a bunch of garbage.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Generic garbage with weird phrases and a robotic structure. —Jodie Cook, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024 And composting leaves means less going to the garbage dump. —Lauren David, Southern Living, 20 Nov. 2024 In the city of Milwaukee, garbage collection is not paused on Veterans Day. —Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 11 Nov. 2024 It’s been like discovering a goldmine of good feelings amid a proverbial garbage fire. —Jennifer Jolly, USA TODAY, 6 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for garbage 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "poultry organs and body parts used for food, poultry refuse," borrowed from Anglo-French *garbage (implied in sergant garbagere "kitchen servant tasked with plucking and cleaning poultry"), of obscure origin

Note: On morphological, semantic, or chronological grounds unlikely to be related to Anglo-French garbeler, Middle English garbelen "to remove (impurities) from spices" (see garble entry 1) or to Middle French gaburge, grabuge "quarrel, brawl." The Anglo-French collocation sergant garbagere indicates currency of the word as early as 1318 (Household Ordinances of Edward II).

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of garbage was in the 15th century

Phrases Containing garbage

Dictionary Entries Near garbage

garb

garbage

garbage can

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Garbage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garbage. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

garbage

noun
gar·​bage ˈgär-bij How to pronounce garbage (audio)
1
: food waste
2
: discarded or useless material : refuse
3
: something inferior, worthless, or useless
a show that's garbage

More from Merriam-Webster on garbage

Nglish: Translation of garbage for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of garbage for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about garbage

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

9 Superb Owl Words

15 Words That Used to Mean Something Different
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
sweet smart pug puppy dog sitting in front of blackboard with chalk question marks
Commonly Confused Words Quiz Vol. 3 Do you have a (flare/flair) for choosing the righ...