Garbage
/ˈɡɑːrbɪdʒ/
Definitions
2 meaningsWaste or discarded materials; refuse.
/ˈɡɑːrbɪdʒ/
Waste material that is thrown away.
He took out the garbage.
💡 Simply: Garbage is all the stuff you don't want anymore, like food scraps, empty boxes, and things that are broken. It's what you throw away!
👶 For kids: Garbage is yucky stuff that you throw away.
More Examples
The streets were littered with garbage.
The garbage truck comes every Tuesday.
How It's Used
"The city collects garbage every week."
"Reducing garbage is crucial for environmental sustainability."
Something considered worthless or of poor quality; nonsense.
/ˈɡɑːrbɪdʒ/
Worthless or untrue information.
She dismissed the rumor as garbage.
💡 Simply: When someone is talking, and what they say is not true, it's considered 'garbage.' It's like saying someone is talking a load of rubbish or nonsense.
👶 For kids: When people say something that is not true, you can call it garbage.
More Examples
The tabloid newspaper was full of garbage.
Don't believe that garbage; it's all lies.
How It's Used
"Don't listen to his garbage; he's just trying to start trouble."
"The article contained a lot of garbage and misinformation."
Idioms & expressions
garbage in, garbage out (GIGO)
A principle stating that flawed or nonsense input will produce flawed or nonsense output. Commonly used in computer science.
"If you give the program bad data, you'll get garbage out - garbage in, garbage out."
talk garbage
To talk nonsense or say things that are not true.
"He's just talking garbage; don't believe anything he says."
From Middle English *garbache*, from Old French *garbe* 'bundle, sheaf' (of grain), later associated with waste material. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic.
Historically, 'garbage' was associated with discarded grains and later expanded to include other forms of waste.
Memory tip
Think of the 'garage' where you put your garbage.