trash

noun

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\ ˈtrash

Definition of trash

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

verb

trashed; trashing; trashes

Definition of trash (Entry 2 of 2)

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 More Example Sentences Learn More about trash

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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 old man can still talk trash with the best of them. — BostonGlobe.com, "Instant analysis: No denying Tom Brady’s greatness following seventh championship," 7 Feb. 2021 One of his biggest political battles was inherited from Mayor Chris Coleman — the rollout of an organized trash collection system in 2018, which Carter supported. — Shannon Prather Star Tribune, Star Tribune, "St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter will seek second term," 26 Jan. 2021 The volunteers wore safety vests and wielded trash picking tools, combing the pavement for pieces of rubbish. — oregonlive, "MLK Day in Portland: Hundreds attend litter cleanup event, breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Jr.," 18 Jan. 2021 Among the trash the insurrectionists left in Washington was a vial of injectable testosterone. — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, "Donald Trump’s ‘Pussy’ Presidency," 17 Jan. 2021 Tired, tattered bathrobes should be left in the closet, or the trash. — Katharine K. Zarrella, WSJ, "Pajamas Are the New Sweatpants—How to Wear Them Everywhere," 16 Jan. 2021 What exactly that trash-talking is, nobody will say. — Rod Walker, NOLA.com, "Walker: Saints DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson getting in heads of opposing receivers one game at a time," 13 Jan. 2021 The answer to that question for me was in a picture of Congressman Andy Kim of New Jersey kneeling on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda, picking up trash left by the rioters. — Susanna Schrobsdorff, Time, "Picking Up the Pieces of Us," 10 Jan. 2021 On Tuesday afternoon, a man surrounded by a wall of boxes, trash and a shopping cart was aggressively yelling into the air just half a block away from the empty building on Valencia Street. — Trisha Thadani, San Francisco Chronicle, "S.F. has taken more than a year to open 30 beds for homeless and mentally ill," 3 Feb. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Keep all food and trash out of reach. Provide access to a quiet place to retreat; give your pet the option to step away to an enclosed room with their favorite toys and bed. — Karen Pearlman, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Humane Society offers tips for a safe Thanksgiving with your pets," 23 Nov. 2020 Got old electronics but don’t know where to trash them? — Anna Caplan, Dallas News, "Grand Prairie will recycle your electronics, for free," 31 Dec. 2020 The uncertainty of the claim to possession of the house manifests itself in the mob’s ambivalence about whether to trash it. — Alec Macgillis, ProPublica, "Inside the Capitol Riot: What the Parler Videos Reveal," 17 Jan. 2021 And there are no hard feelings between Hinch and Lombard for what happened in 2017 season, when the Astros — with Hinch as the manager — used video monitors and trash cans to electronically steal signs from their opponents. — Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, "Why George Lombard left the Los Angeles Dodgers for Detroit Tigers' bench coach job," 17 Jan. 2021 Then, workers at both transfer stations tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to an email that a solid waste disposal administrator sent to trash companies and government officials last Monday that was obtained by The Washington Post. — Washington Post, "Problems at D.C.’s trash transfer stations include structural damage and coronavirus," 22 Dec. 2020 When ribbons and bows are too dead to reuse, trash them. — Wyatte Grantham-philips, USA TODAY, "Recycling wrapping paper? What about gift bags? Here's what holiday packaging can go in blue bins.," 15 Dec. 2020 Well, scratch that: He's joined the ranks of Trump loyalists determined to trash the nation on their way out the door. — Arkansas Online, "PAUL KRUGMAN: Trump Wars II: The Loser Strikes Back," 28 Nov. 2020 Bottom line: There just may be reason not to trash an old box spring. — Kelly Allen, House Beautiful, "This TikTok User Turned a Mattress Spring Into a Light Fixture," 30 Nov. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'trash.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.