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
Denise Mina
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
Lisa Green and Tracy ConnerNote: BIN frequently precedes perfect (see perfect entry 1 sense 5) verb forms, as well as progressive (see progressive entry 1 sense 7) 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.
: 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
Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 June 2025
Seal garbage tightly in bags, and rinse out bottles and cans before placing in recycling bins.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 18 June 2025
PC Magazine, 22 May 2025
The majority of photos binned were duplicates: Instead of having 16 pictures of me running through a forest, only the best two or three remain.
—Matt Burgess, WIRED, 25 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for bin
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.
Noun
This includes: Firewood stacks Garbage or recycling bins Patio furniture
Playground equipment
Large rocks or landscaping features
3.
—Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 June 2025
Seal garbage tightly in bags, and rinse out bottles and cans before placing in recycling bins.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 18 June 2025
Verb
Photos from the main camera are binned by a factor of four, resulting in final shots of 12.5MP.
—PC Magazine, 22 May 2025
The majority of photos binned were duplicates: Instead of having 16 pictures of me running through a forest, only the best two or three remain.
—Matt Burgess, WIRED, 25 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for bin
Cite this Entry
“Bin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bin. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share