garbage

noun

gar·​bage ˈgär-bij 

1

a

: food waste

b

: discarded or useless material

2

a

: trash sense 1b

b

: inaccurate or useless data

Synonyms of garbage

• trash
• debris
• rubbish
• junk
• dust
• litter
• sewage
• truck

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

Residential solid waste rates for garbage pickup are also increasing in the new year. —Samuel O'Neal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Dec. 2025

The incident comes as coyote sightings have become more common across urban and suburban South Florida, where the highly adaptable animals find food in rodents, fruit, garbage, outdoor pet food and even bird feeders. —Theo Karantsalis, Miami Herald, 25 Dec. 2025

Priority Waste is contracted to handle garbage, recycling and composting in Westland. —Darcie Moran, Freep.com, 23 Dec. 2025

Hazardous and flammable items such as batteries, gas containers and chemicals, should not be placed in garbage and recycling carts, the city says. —Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 22 Dec. 2025

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

Phrases Containing garbage

• a lot of garbage/nonsense
• garbage can
• garbage disposal
• garbage time
• garbage truck

Kids Definition

garbage

noun

gar·​bage ˈgär-bij 

1

: food waste

2

: discarded or useless material : refuse

3

: something inferior, worthless, or useless

a show that's garbage