incinerator

noun

in·​cin·​er·​a·​tor in-ˈsi-nə-ˌrā-tər How to pronounce incinerator (audio)
: one that incinerates
especially : a furnace or a container for incinerating waste materials

Examples of incinerator in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Half went to landfills and waste incinerators, seven stopped pinging at transfer stations that don’t recycle or sort plastic bags, six last pinged at the store where they were dropped off, and three ended up in Indonesia and Malaysia. Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2025 The rest goes to landfills, the ocean or incinerators. Lauren Giella, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025 Keefe Harrison founded The Recycling Partnership in 2014 to boost recycling rates in the U.S., where two thirds of the solid waste that households discard every year ends up in landfills or incinerators. Elisabeth Brier, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025 And 92 million metric tons of textiles—which can range from leftover scraps and cuttings to entire runs of fabric—can end up in warehouses, or worse, landfills or incinerators. Jennifer Bringle, Sourcing Journal, 16 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for incinerator

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of incinerator was in 1883

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Incinerator.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incinerator. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

incinerator

noun
in·​cin·​er·​a·​tor in-ˈsin-ə-ˌrāt-ər How to pronounce incinerator (audio)
: a furnace or a container for burning waste materials

More from Merriam-Webster on incinerator

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