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

One touchdown was all the Broncos' D allowed, and that came in garbage time.

—Paul Zimmerman

Examples of garbage time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Needing a spark in their third game in three states in four nights, the Celtics did not get one from their bench, which combined to score just five points before garbage time (plus another 12 after Mazzulla lifted his starters with more than five minutes remaining). —Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 26 Feb. 2026

After shooting 30% from the field for most of the second half, the Wildcats made five straight in garbage time to cut their deficit in half. —Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 22 Feb. 2026

Within the context of a healthy roster, Santos would have spot minutes either in a pinch or in garbage time. —Jannelle Moore, Mercury News, 16 Feb. 2026

That might not sound like a lot to the average fan, but no one in New York’s organization thought this kid would play anything other than garbage time as a rookie — and possibly next year, too. —James L. Edwards Iii, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for garbage time

• aforetime
• allozyme
• anytime
• christmastime
• cybercrime
• dinnertime
• guggenheim
• isozyme
• lysozyme
• maritime
• mesenchyme
• overtime