garbage time
noun
US, sports
: the final moments or minutes of a game in which one side has an insurmountable lead, substitutes often enter the game in place of starting players, and scoring is typically easier because of looser defensive play
… the forgotten foursome of Greg Kite, Fred Roberts, Sam Vicent and Conner Henry will be on call in case of extreme emergency and those meaningless minutes appropriately referred to as garbage time.—
Gerry Finn
Gerry FinnOne touchdown was all the Broncos' D allowed, and that came in garbage time.—Paul Zimmerman
Paul ZimmermanExamples of garbage time in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And most of his numbers came in garbage time.
—Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2025
Gabriel has been Cleveland's QB2 since before the year began and has taken the only snaps Flacco hasn't taken through two games, which came in garbage time in a blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday.
—Max Dible, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
As the Lions scored a garbage time TD with 55 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, Green Bay’s easy 26-13 victory wasn’t as closely contested as the score would seem to indicate.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Backup quarterback Zach Wilson entered the game late for Miami, in garbage time — a phrase befitting the Dolphins’ entire afternoon.
—Miami Herald, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for garbage time
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Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2025
Gabriel has been Cleveland's QB2 since before the year began and has taken the only snaps Flacco hasn't taken through two games, which came in garbage time in a blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday.
—Max Dible, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
As the Lions scored a garbage time TD with 55 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, Green Bay’s easy 26-13 victory wasn’t as closely contested as the score would seem to indicate.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Backup quarterback Zach Wilson entered the game late for Miami, in garbage time — a phrase befitting the Dolphins’ entire afternoon.
—Miami Herald, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for garbage time
Cite this Entry
“Garbage time.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garbage%20time. Accessed 26 Sep. 2025.
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