trash

1 of 2

noun

ˈtrash 

1

: something worth little or nothing: such as

a

: things that are no longer useful or wanted and that have been thrown away : junk, rubbish

b(1)

: inferior or worthless writing or artistic matter (such as a television show)

especially : such matter intended purely for sensational entertainment

(2)

: trash talk

(3)

: empty talk : nonsense

2

: a worthless person

also : such persons as a group : riffraff

3

: something in a crumbled or broken condition or mass

especially : debris from pruning or processing plant material

trash

2 of 2

verb

trashed; trashing; trashes

transitive verb

1

: throw away sense 1

Standards of reality and truth were trashed …

—Edwin Diamond

2

: vandalize, destroy

3

: attack, assault

4

: spoil, ruin

trashing the environment

5

: to subject to criticism or invective

especially : to disparage strongly

a film trashed by the critics

intransitive verb

: to trash something or someone

Synonyms of trash

Noun

• garbage
• debris
• rubbish
• junk
• dust
• litter

Verb

• attack
• slam
• insult
• scold
• abuse
• savage

Examples of trash in a Sentence

Noun

Take out the trash, please.

I put the dirty diaper in the trash.

I can't believe you're reading that trash.

She thinks that they're all trash.

Verb

a computer program that trashes useless files

The vacuum cleaner couldn't be fixed, so I trashed it.

The apartment had been trashed.

He says that the government's policies are trashing the environment.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Wipe out trash and recycling bins and add a fresh trash bag to make the whole space feel cleaner and fully refreshed, says Parks. —Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 20 Dec. 2025

Tap the trash icon in the bottom right corner. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 20 Dec. 2025

Verb

Both camps, though, have trashed such claims and Joshua, with the weight of expectation on his back, has promised an early stoppage. —Ben Church, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025

Songz was accused of trashing the Joe Louis Arena stage in Detroit in 2016 after his microphone was shut off during a show. —Emma Butts, NBC news, 16 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English trasch fallen leaves and twigs, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect trask rubbish; Old Norse tros fallen leaves and twigs, Old English trus

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1529, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1902, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing trash

• talk trash
• trailer trash
• trash can
• trash compactor
• trash fish
• trash talk
• white trash

Rhymes for trash

• ash
• bash
• brash
• cache
• cash
• clash
• crash
• dash
• flash
• gash
• hash
• lash

Kids Definition

trash

noun

ˈtrash

1

: something of little or no value: as

a

: junk entry 1 sense 2, rubbish

b

: silly or worthless talk or works (as books)

2

: a low or worthless person

also : such persons as a group : rabble sense 2

trashy

ˈtrash-ē

adjective