offal

noun

ˈȯ-fəl How to pronounce offal (audio)
Definition of offalnext
as in garbage
discarded or useless material a pile of offal from the tannery operating in the neighborhood

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of offal This carnivore’s sanctum offers an education in offal, mapping the pig from trompa (snout) to rabo (tail). — Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 11 May 2026 This isn’t about fetishizing offal. — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026 The German served up wiener schnitzel the following year, while in 1988 Scotland’s Sandy Lyle laid on some haggis – sheep’s offal minced, spiced and served in its stomach, and plated up to the sound of bagpipes. — Don Riddell, CNN Money, 7 Apr. 2026 Kennedy recently encouraged people to embrace offal as a more affordable source of protein. — Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for offal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offal
  1. garbage
  2. debris
  3. trash
  4. rubbish
  5. sewage
  6. junk
  7. dust
Noun
  • Building a new garbage incinerator plant now would cost Miami-Dade County $3 billion under a private development deal that’s facing criticism by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, according to a recent memo.
    — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026
  • The notice of violation was issued on July 12, after the agency received more than 40 public complaints of rotten, sour, garbage-type odors in the area.
    — Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026
Definition of garbage
Noun
  • Try to find a place that will block blowing or falling debris.
    — CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 16 July 2026
  • The largest of the debris aprons covers 50 square miles (130 square kilometers), which would be large enough to bury a small city or a large town.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 16 July 2026
Definition of debris
Noun
  • Attorneys for the owners of the landfill, which stopped accepting trash last year, claimed this spring in the litigation that the lawsuits may be tainted by fraud.
    — Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2026
  • The concrete bleachers around the basketball court was teeming with trash, plastic cups, and bottles of alcohol.
    — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 11 July 2026
Definition of trash
Noun
  • Only construction waste will be accepted at the landfill such as, brush and rubbish, concrete, brick, rock, wood, paper, plastics, cardboard and roofing shingles and tiles.
    — Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 July 2026
  • So where does the rubbish come from?
    — Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 8 June 2026
Definition of rubbish
Noun
  • Four Plano restaurants had emergency closures due to sewage and grease-trap issues, and insects were seen at other eateries during a recent round of city health inspections, according to the inspection reports.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 July 2026
  • When an engine fire knocked out power and plumbing for five days, 4,000 passengers were stranded with overflowing sewage — including, yes, poop — spoiled food and unbearable heat.
    — Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 14 July 2026
Definition of sewage
Noun
  • These satellites, frequently fitted with solar panels spanning 100 feet (30 meters) or more, can suffer substantial damage from a collision with the tiniest piece of junk.
    — Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 13 July 2026
  • The BlackRock Muniyield Quality (MQY) yields 6%, paid monthly—slightly below what junk ETFs are offering.
    — Brett Owens, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026
Definition of junk
Noun
  • The meteorite had a strong sulfur-like odor and black fragments, debris and dust covered the room.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 17 July 2026
  • The molecular cloud and its dark lanes of gas and dust, the raw materials for star construction, are at the left of the DECam image.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of dust

Browse Nearby Words

off
offal
off and on
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Offal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offal. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on offal

Nglish: Translation of offal for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about offal

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All