garbage time
noun
US, sports
: the final moments or minutes of a game in which one side has an insurmountable lead, substitutes often enter the game in place of starting players, and scoring is typically easier because of looser defensive play
… the forgotten foursome of Greg Kite, Fred Roberts, Sam Vicent and Conner Henry will be on call in case of extreme emergency and those meaningless minutes appropriately referred to as garbage time.—
Gerry Finn
Gerry FinnOne touchdown was all the Broncos' D allowed, and that came in garbage time.—Paul Zimmerman
Paul ZimmermanExamples of garbage time in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Houser, meanwhile, continued his unexpected run, holding the Cubs scoreless for six innings before giving up a three-run homer to Reese McGuire in garbage time.
—Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 26 July 2025
Drafted in the second round out of Alabama in 2022, the 6-foot-1 Davison appeared in just 36 NBA games over his three seasons with Boston, with the vast majority of his minutes coming in garbage time.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 24 July 2025
The two combined to play just 32 minutes this postseason, all in garbage time.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 13 July 2025
Tillman hardly played outside of garbage time after the opening week of the season, ranking 13th on the roster in minutes played (more than 600 fewer than Queta).
—Zack Cox, Hartford Courant, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for garbage time
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.
Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 26 July 2025
Drafted in the second round out of Alabama in 2022, the 6-foot-1 Davison appeared in just 36 NBA games over his three seasons with Boston, with the vast majority of his minutes coming in garbage time.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 24 July 2025
The two combined to play just 32 minutes this postseason, all in garbage time.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 13 July 2025
Tillman hardly played outside of garbage time after the opening week of the season, ranking 13th on the roster in minutes played (more than 600 fewer than Queta).
—Zack Cox, Hartford Courant, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for garbage time
Cite this Entry
“Garbage time.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garbage%20time. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share