trash

1 of 2

noun

ˈtrash 

1

: something worth little or nothing: such as

a

: things that are no longer useful or wanted and that have been thrown away : junk, rubbish

b(1)

: inferior or worthless writing or artistic matter (such as a television show)

especially : such matter intended purely for sensational entertainment

(2)

: trash talk

(3)

: empty talk : nonsense

2

: a worthless person

also : such persons as a group : riffraff

3

: something in a crumbled or broken condition or mass

especially : debris from pruning or processing plant material

trash

2 of 2

verb

trashed; trashing; trashes

transitive verb

1

: throw away sense 1

standards of reality and truth were trashed

—Edwin Diamond

2

: vandalize, destroy

3

: attack, assault

4

: spoil, ruin

trashing the environment

5

: to subject to criticism or invective

especially : to disparage strongly

a film trashed by the critics

intransitive verb

: to trash something or someone

Synonyms

Noun

• chaff
• deadwood
• debris
• dreck
• drek
• dross
• dust
• effluvium
• effluvia
• garbage
• junk
• litter
• offal
• offscouring
• raffle
• refuse
• riffraff
• rubbish
• scrap
• spilth
• truck
• waste

Verb

• abuse
• assail
• attack
• bash
• belabor
• blast
• castigate
• excoriate
• jump (on)
• lambaste
• lambast
• potshot
• savage
• scathe
• slam
• vituperate

Examples of trash in a Sentence

Noun

Take out the trash, please.

I put the dirty diaper in the trash.

I can't believe you're reading that trash.

She thinks that they're all trash.

Verb

a computer program that trashes useless files

The vacuum cleaner couldn't be fixed, so I trashed it.

The apartment had been trashed.

He says that the government's policies are trashing the environment.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Instead of replacing worn out batteries, every day some 13 million cellphones end up in the trash, along with an unknown number of laptops and other devices. —Greg Petro, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024

These items should be disposed of in the trash instead. —Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 1 Dec. 2024

Verb

Everything else should be trashed, composted, or recycled. —Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 1 Dec. 2024

Advertisement The statements by the two added to the former president’s legal woes as prosecutors seek to find links between the far-right leader and the Jan. 8, 2023, riots that trashed government buildings in Brasilia, the capital, one week after Lula’s inauguration. —Gabriela Sá Pessoa, Los Angeles Times, 19 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English trasch fallen leaves and twigs, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect trask rubbish; Old Norse tros fallen leaves and twigs, Old English trus

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1529, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1902, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing trash

• talk trash
• trailer trash
• trash can
• trash compactor
• trash fish
• trash talk
• white trash

Kids Definition

trash

noun

ˈtrash

1

: something of little or no value: as

a

: junk entry 1 sense 2, rubbish

b

: silly or worthless talk or works (as books)

2

: a low or worthless person

also : such persons as a group : rabble sense 2

trashy

ˈtrash-ē

adjective