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

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

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

The outlet reported that the landfill is where New York City garbage is taken and that there is reportedly a dumpster behind the apartment in Brooklyn. —Liam Quinn, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025

People shot bullets through the windows of the Liuzzo family home, dumped garbage on their lawn, sent them a photo of their slain mother, and burned a wooden cross in front of their home. —Emma George-Griffin, Freep.com, 9 Oct. 2025

Other residents said building staff stopped bringing trash and recycling bins inside the building, forcing the tenants, many of whom have mobility challenges, to go outside to dispose of garbage. —Gina Lee Castro, jsonline.com, 9 Oct. 2025

Buium’s main chore has been taking out the garbage. —Joe Smith, New York Times, 8 Oct. 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