garbage

noun

gar·​bage ˈgär-bij How to pronounce garbage (audio)
Synonyms of garbage
1
a
: food waste
b
: discarded or useless material
2
a
: trash sense 1b
b
: inaccurate or useless data

Synonyms of garbage

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Examples of garbage in a Sentence

The park was littered with garbage. Please take out the garbage. Raccoons were going through the garbage. Throw the can in the garbage. If you ask me, what he said is a bunch of garbage.
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.
The professionals still know what good looks like, still understand the trade-offs, and still recognize when the AI has produced garbage. — New Atlas, 2 Aug. 2026 Lipofuscin is essentially cellular garbage (clumps of oxidized proteins and fats that cells can no longer break down). — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026 Nerheim noted the store receipts indicated the purchase of acid, coveralls, goggles, gloves, plastic sheeting, saw blades, bleach and garbage bags. — Barbara Vitello, Chicago Tribune, 1 Aug. 2026 How to Recycle Items That Aren’t Accepted Curbside There are easy ways to avoid tossing hard-to-recycle items in the garbage. — Nafeesah Allen, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for garbage

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "poultry organs and body parts used for food, poultry refuse," borrowed from Anglo-French *garbage (implied in sergant garbagere "kitchen servant tasked with plucking and cleaning poultry"), of obscure origin

Note: On morphological, semantic, or chronological grounds unlikely to be related to Anglo-French garbeler, Middle English garbelen "to remove (impurities) from spices" (see garble entry 1) or to Middle French gaburge, grabuge "quarrel, brawl." The Anglo-French collocation sergant garbagere indicates currency of the word as early as 1318 (Household Ordinances of Edward II).

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of garbage was in the 15th century

Phrases Containing garbage

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garb
garbage
garbage can
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Cite this Entry

“Garbage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garbage. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

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Kids Definition

garbage

noun
gar·​bage ˈgär-bij How to pronounce garbage (audio)
1
: food waste
2
: discarded or useless material : refuse
3
: something inferior, worthless, or useless
a show that's garbage

More from Merriam-Webster on garbage

Nglish: Translation of garbage for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about garbage

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