Illustration of junk
- 3junk
1
a(1)
: old iron, glass, paper, or other waste that may be used again in some form
(2)
: secondhand, worn, or discarded articles
(3)
b
: something of poor quality : trash
c
: something of little meaning, worth, or significance
2
: pieces of old cable or cordage used especially to make gaskets, mats, swabs, or oakum
4
5
: baseball pitches that break or are off-speed (such as curveballs or changeups)
6
slang
: male genitalia
: any of various ships of Chinese waters with bluff lines, a high poop and overhanging stem, little or no keel, high pole masts, and a deep rudder
Synonyms
Noun (1)
Verb
Examples of junk in a Sentence
Verb
We decided to junk our old computer and buy a new one.
we'll have to junk this old car
Recent Examples on the Web
Tik Root, WIRED, 30 Mar. 2024
The nation still generates 60 percent of its electricity with fossil fuels (43 percent of it from natural gas) and until that changes, junking a gas stove is roughly a wash for the planet.
—Tik Root, Grist, Quartz, 29 Mar. 2024
Prints were often stripped of their silver content and junked.
—Dan Barry, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024
Her characters are often antique pickers, interior designers, real estate agents, location scouts, house flippers and those who go on junking trips.
—Marni Jameson, The Mercury News, 18 Jan. 2024
Computer manufacturers also installed all kinds of additional support software, registration screens, and other things that generally extended the setup process and junked up your Start menu and desktop.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 21 Aug. 2023
And then the Republicans junked that plan and passed a map that was tilted wildly in their favor.
—Kyle Whitmire | Kwhitmire@al.com, al, 23 Aug. 2023
The cost to repair it was onerous, and Hilton had no option but to junk it.
—Susan Orlean, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2022
Pension costs have weighed on the city’s credit rating for years, which partly spurred Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade the city to junk in 2015.
—Shruti Singh, Bloomberg.com, 21 Oct. 2020
Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 23 Apr. 2024
No one was more surprised by the sight of space junk in his home than Florida resident Alejandro Otero, who is currently dealing with damages made by a nearly 2-pound piece of hardware from space.
—Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
The piece of space junk is roughly cylindrical in shape and is about 4-inches tall and 1.6-inches wide.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 16 Apr. 2024
Undated photo provided by NASA shows a recovered chunk of space junk from equipment discarded at the International Space Station.
—CBS News, 16 Apr. 2024
And the whole junk fee battle sounds good on paper but is legally complicated.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
Yet Rizzo told me that dumping is rampant in working-class, outer-borough neighborhoods, where residents have long felt overlooked by the Department of Sanitation, and that many people have welcomed the surveillance cameras in the hope of getting relief from all the junk.
—Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Court documents stated there was no indication of firearms at the residence other than two cartridges found buried beneath junk items.
—Dylan Wickman, The Arizona Republic, 10 Apr. 2024
Many people believe that only spam, junk or generally ‘useless’ emails end up in the spam folder.
—Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
Verb
The nation still generates 60 percent of its electricity with fossil fuels (43 percent of it from natural gas), and until that changes, junking a gas stove is roughly a wash for the planet.
—Tik Root, WIRED, 30 Mar. 2024
The nation still generates 60 percent of its electricity with fossil fuels (43 percent of it from natural gas) and until that changes, junking a gas stove is roughly a wash for the planet.
—Tik Root, Grist, Quartz, 29 Mar. 2024
Prints were often stripped of their silver content and junked.
—Dan Barry, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024
Her characters are often antique pickers, interior designers, real estate agents, location scouts, house flippers and those who go on junking trips.
—Marni Jameson, The Mercury News, 18 Jan. 2024
Computer manufacturers also installed all kinds of additional support software, registration screens, and other things that generally extended the setup process and junked up your Start menu and desktop.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 21 Aug. 2023
And then the Republicans junked that plan and passed a map that was tilted wildly in their favor.
—Kyle Whitmire | Kwhitmire@al.com, al, 23 Aug. 2023
The cost to repair it was onerous, and Hilton had no option but to junk it.
—Susan Orlean, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2022
Pension costs have weighed on the city’s credit rating for years, which partly spurred Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade the city to junk in 2015.
—Shruti Singh, Bloomberg.com, 21 Oct. 2020
Noun
As the space industry continues to grow, so does the amount of spacecraft being launched into orbit and the risk of collision with wandering pieces of space junk.
—Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 23 Apr. 2024
No one was more surprised by the sight of space junk in his home than Florida resident Alejandro Otero, who is currently dealing with damages made by a nearly 2-pound piece of hardware from space.
—Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
The piece of space junk is roughly cylindrical in shape and is about 4-inches tall and 1.6-inches wide.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 16 Apr. 2024
Undated photo provided by NASA shows a recovered chunk of space junk from equipment discarded at the International Space Station.
—CBS News, 16 Apr. 2024
And the whole junk fee battle sounds good on paper but is legally complicated.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024
Yet Rizzo told me that dumping is rampant in working-class, outer-borough neighborhoods, where residents have long felt overlooked by the Department of Sanitation, and that many people have welcomed the surveillance cameras in the hope of getting relief from all the junk.
—Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Court documents stated there was no indication of firearms at the residence other than two cartridges found buried beneath junk items.
—Dylan Wickman, The Arizona Republic, 10 Apr. 2024
Many people believe that only spam, junk or generally ‘useless’ emails end up in the spam folder.
—Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'junk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Video
Some Odd Words with ISMO: "Junk in the Trunk"
Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk
Dictionary Entries Near junk
Cite this Entry
“Junk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/junk. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
junk
2 of 3 verb
: to get rid of as worthless : scrap
junk
3 of 3 noun
: a ship of eastern Asia with a high stern and four-cornered sails
Etymology
Noun
Middle English jonke "piece of old or worn-out rope"
Noun
from Portuguese junco "a Chinese ship"
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share