bin

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈbin 

plural bins

1

: a box, frame, crib, or enclosed place used for storage

2

chiefly British : a can for trash or garbage : dustbin

The woman retreated to a desk, dropping the leaflets in the bin as though she couldn't bear to hold them anymore.

—Denise Mina

bin

2 of 4

verb

binned; binning

transitive verb

: to put into a bin

BIN

3 of 4

noun (2)

ˈbin 

linguistics

: the verb form been used with spoken emphasis in African American English to indicate that something (such as an event or state) happened or existed in the remote past or that it began in the remote past and is still ongoing : stressed bin

BIN, which is stressed, situates an eventuality or some part of it in the remote past. It has been shown that developing AAL-speaking children also produce BIN in spontaneous speech and interpret it as a marker that refers to the distant past.

—Lisa Green and Tracy Conner

Note: BIN frequently precedes perfect (see perfect entry 1 sense 5) verb forms, as well as progressive (see progressive entry 1 sense 7) verb forms ending in -ing. It can also precede the African American English feature perfective done, additional predicates (such as nouns, adjectives, and prepositional phrases), and, in certain contexts, adverbial phrases.

bin-

4 of 4

prefix

: bi- entry 1

binaural

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• box
• caddy
• case
• casket
• chest
• locker
• trunk

Examples of bin in a Sentence

Noun (1)

Put the old newspapers in the recycling bin.

a storage bin for hats and gloves

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

From there, Kiwanis spread the word about the event and secured the trash bin from the city. —Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Feb. 2025

The company continues to invest in technology and infrastructure improvements, including enhanced WiFi, in-seat power, and larger overhead bins on new aircraft. —Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, Quartz, 7 Feb. 2025

Verb

Since the launch of the ID product family in 2019, VW has shifted more than 1.35 million ID EVs worldwide, many with the woeful haptic buttons customers have loathed, but which mercifully have now been binned. —Julian Chokkattu, WIRED, 8 Feb. 2025

Photos from the main camera are binned down to 12.5MP and aided by an ambient light sensor. —PCMAG, 30 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English binn, from Old English

Prefix

Middle English, from Late Latin, from Latin bini two by two; akin to Old English twinn twofold — more at twin

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1839, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1975, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing bin

• bin liner
• litter bin
• loony bin
• rubbish bin
• waste bin
• wheelie bin

Kids Definition

bin

noun

ˈbin

: a box, frame, or enclosed place for storage