bin

1 of 4

noun (1)

plural bins
1
: a box, frame, crib, or enclosed place used for storage
2
chiefly British : a can for trash or garbage : dustbin
The woman retreated to a desk, dropping the leaflets in the bin as though she couldn't bear to hold them anymore.Denise Mina

bin

2 of 4

verb

binned; binning

transitive verb

: to put into a bin

BIN

3 of 4

noun (2)

linguistics
: the verb form been used with spoken emphasis in African American English to indicate that something (such as an event or state) happened or existed in the remote past or that it began in the remote past and is still ongoing : stressed bin
BIN, which is stressed, situates an eventuality or some part of it in the remote past. It has been shown that developing AAL-speaking children also produce BIN in spontaneous speech and interpret it as a marker that refers to the distant past.Lisa Green and Tracy Conner

Note: BIN frequently precedes perfect (see perfect entry 1 sense 5) verb forms, as well as progressive (see progressive entry 1 sense 6) verb forms ending in -ing. It can also precede the African American English feature perfective done, additional predicates (such as nouns, adjectives, and prepositional phrases), and, in certain contexts, adverbial phrases.

bin-

4 of 4

prefix

: bi- entry 1
binaural

Examples of bin in a Sentence

Noun (1) Put the old newspapers in the recycling bin. a storage bin for hats and gloves
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The set comes with six bins that are big enough to hold seasonal clothing, toys, games, and extra linens. Amy Schulman, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2024 Use either a turntable or a clear plastic bin to make retrieval of condiments easier in the future. Dominique Fluker, Essence, 21 Mar. 2024 Sergio Diaz, who had fired at the officers with a 12-gauge shotgun, fled and was later found hiding in a trash bin. Cindy Chang, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024 He was spotted sitting near a trash bin about 30 feet from the clinic and was arrested. City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2024 There will be portable restrooms along with trash and recycling bins. Ben Brasch, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024 In addition to under-seat storage, the rear seat folds flat for cargo Second-row storage includes a flat-folding seat back and storage bins under the seat. Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 19 Mar. 2024 Passengers who use the self-screening stations, for instance, will put all of their items in a single bin, rather than, say, jackets in one tray and electronics in another. Chris Morris, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2024 Robert Wayne Smith was helping unload soybeans in a bin while running a grain vacuum on March 4, according to a news release from the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. Jennifer Rodriguez, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2024
Verb
Words that hung in the air, where they could not be struck through and binned. Hannah Gold, Harper's Magazine, 11 Oct. 2022 The inner screen camera has a 32MP sensor and shoots 8MP shots (binned by a factor of four). Iyaz Akhtar, PCMAG, 1 June 2023 The main camera captures approximately 48MP images that are binned down by four to produce 12MP jpegs. Eric Zeman, PCMAG, 11 May 2023 The result is an effective 48 megapixels of resolution which is designed to output binned 12-megapixel stills. Jon Porter, The Verge, 11 May 2023 In fact, after five failures in seven orbital launch attempts of its Rocket 3 vehicle, the company binned that design. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 6 Mar. 2023 Just bin it with the Articles and Native peace treaties. Dennard Dayle, The New Yorker, 22 July 2022 For instance, it was reported that Tesco suppliers are being forced to bin nearly 50 tonnes of food each week due to a lorry driver crisis. Amy Nguyen, Forbes, 25 June 2021 The reusable bins the company normally supplies to clients have been replaced by cardboard boxes. Kim Velsey, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English binn, from Old English

Prefix

Middle English, from Late Latin, from Latin bini two by two; akin to Old English twinn twofold — more at twin

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1839, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1975, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bin was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near bin

Cite this Entry

“Bin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bin. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

bin

noun
ˈbin
: a box, frame, or enclosed place for storage

More from Merriam-Webster on bin

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