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

New York City has already begun working with neighborhood groups and activating organizations who sign up to be notified before a big rain to clean debris like falling leaves and garbage from the sewer drains in their community. —Amy Chester, New York Daily News, 6 Aug. 2025

Check garbage collection schedules in Ohio Ohio's bigger cities won't see garbage trucks on Labor Day. —Mariyam Muhammad, Cincinnati Enquirer, 4 Aug. 2025

Pollutants that run over roads, including garbage and fertilizers, can also enter the water. —Elijah Polance, Hartford Courant, 3 Aug. 2025

According to a memo distributed to aldermen Thursday and provided to the Tribune, city officials estimated a garbage fee increase could net anywhere from $19.6 million to just under $300 million, depending on the rate. —A.d. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 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