trash

1 of 2

noun

ˈtrash 

1

: something worth little or nothing: such as

a

: things that are no longer useful or wanted and that have been thrown away : junk, rubbish

b(1)

: inferior or worthless writing or artistic matter (such as a television show)

especially : such matter intended purely for sensational entertainment

(2)

: trash talk

(3)

: empty talk : nonsense

2

: a worthless person

also : such persons as a group : riffraff

3

: something in a crumbled or broken condition or mass

especially : debris from pruning or processing plant material

trash

2 of 2

verb

trashed; trashing; trashes

transitive verb

1

: throw away sense 1

Standards of reality and truth were trashed …

—Edwin Diamond

2

: vandalize, destroy

3

: attack, assault

4

: spoil, ruin

trashing the environment

5

: to subject to criticism or invective

especially : to disparage strongly

a film trashed by the critics

intransitive verb

: to trash something or someone

Synonyms of trash

Noun

• garbage
• debris
• rubbish
• junk
• dust
• litter

Verb

• attack
• slam
• insult
• scold
• abuse
• savage

Examples of trash in a Sentence

Noun

Take out the trash, please.

I put the dirty diaper in the trash.

I can't believe you're reading that trash.

She thinks that they're all trash.

Verb

a computer program that trashes useless files

The vacuum cleaner couldn't be fixed, so I trashed it.

The apartment had been trashed.

He says that the government's policies are trashing the environment.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The deployment has largely focused on high-visibility patrols through downtown corridors and major tourist areas, far from the city's high-crime areas, along with civic support missions, including trash collection. — ABC News, 2 July 2026

That’s why there are trash days, which are holidays where the city doesn’t collect trash and recycling, and pickup is usually delayed by one day for the rest of the week. — Rashad Alexander, Kansas City Star, 2 July 2026

Verb

Primary voters are far more angry at the party that lost to Trump again, and telling them that Dangerous Left-Wing Candidate X trashed Kamala Harris won’t work. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 1 July 2026

But rather than stick around Earth to become a co-hero with Clark, bounces around red sun planets getting trashed by herself. — Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 27 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English trasch fallen leaves and twigs, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect trask rubbish; Old Norse tros fallen leaves and twigs, Old English trus

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1529, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1902, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing trash

• talk trash
• trailer trash
• trash can
• trash compactor
• trash fish
• trash panda
• trash talk
• white trash

Rhymes for trash

• ash
• bash
• brash
• cache
• cash
• clash
• crash
• dash
• flash
• gash
• hash
• lash

Kids Definition

trash

noun

ˈtrash

1

: something of little or no value: as

a

: junk entry 1 sense 2, rubbish

b

: silly or worthless talk or works (as books)

2

: a low or worthless person

also : such persons as a group : rabble sense 2

trashy

ˈtrash-ē

adjective