GARBAGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does garbage mean? 

• GARBAGE (noun)
  The noun GARBAGE has 3 senses:

1. food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)

2. a worthless message

3. a receptacle where waste can be discarded

  Familiarity information: GARBAGE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GARBAGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

food waste; garbage; refuse; scraps

Hypernyms ("garbage" is a kind of...):

waste; waste material; waste matter; waste product (any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A worthless message

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

drivel; garbage

Hypernyms ("garbage" is a kind of...):

content; message; subject matter; substance (what a communication that is about something is about)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "garbage"):

buncombe; bunk; bunkum; guff; hogwash; rot (unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements))

chickenshit (a false statement that is considered to indicate timidity or fear)

applesauce; codswallop; folderol; rubbish; trash; tripe; trumpery; wish-wash (nonsensical talk or writing)

pablum; pap (worthless or oversimplified ideas)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A receptacle where waste can be discarded

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

she tossed the moldy bread into the garbage

Hypernyms ("garbage" is a kind of...):

receptacle (a container that is used to put or keep things in)

 Context examples 

A type of chemical formed when coal, oil, gas, garbage, tobacco, meat, and other substances are burned.

(PAH, NCI Dictionary)

Don't pour them down the drain, flush them, or put them in the garbage.

(Hazardous Waste, Environmental Protection Agency)

The world's largest collection of ocean garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and California, is now bigger than France, Germany and Spain combined.

(Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch Growing Rapidly, Study Finds, VOA)

When the researchers looked at the affected brain cells more closely, they saw the buildup of a protein called α-synuclein, a hallmark of Parkinson’s, and defects in pathways that clear cellular garbage.

(Scientists find a role for Parkinson’s gene in the brain, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

People who accumulate fat inside liver cells called Kupffer cells, specifically a part of these cells named lysosomes that act like cellular garbage collectors, appear more likely to progress to serious liver disease.

(High-Fat, High-Sugar Diet Causes Lasting Harmful Effects on Liver, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Our garbage can include such hazardous wastes as old batteries, bug spray cans and paint thinner.

(Hazardous Waste, Environmental Protection Agency)

Winds and converging ocean currents funnel the garbage into a central location, said the study's lead author, Laurent Lebreton of the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, a nonprofit organization that spearheaded the research.

(Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch Growing Rapidly, Study Finds, VOA)