trash
Americannoun
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anything worthless, useless, or discarded; rubbish.
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foolish or pointless ideas, talk, or writing; nonsense.
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a worthless or disreputable person.
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such persons collectively.
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literary or artistic material of poor or inferior quality.
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broken or torn bits, as twigs, splinters, rags, or the like.
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something that is broken or lopped off from anything in preparing it for use.
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the refuse of sugarcane after the juice has been expressed.
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Computers. an icon of a trash can that is used to delete files dragged onto it.
verb (used with object)
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Slang. to destroy, damage, or vandalize, as in anger or protest.
The slovenly renters had trashed the house.
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to condemn, dismiss, or criticize as worthless.
The article trashed several recent best-sellers.
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to remove the outer leaves of (a growing sugarcane plant).
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to free from superfluous twigs or branches.
noun
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foolish ideas or talk; nonsense
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useless or unwanted matter or objects
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a literary or artistic production of poor quality
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a poor or worthless person or a group of such people
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bits that are broken or lopped off, esp the trimmings from trees or plants
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the dry remains of sugar cane after the juice has been extracted
verb
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to remove the outer leaves and branches from (growing plants, esp sugar cane)
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slang to attack or destroy (someone or something) wilfully or maliciously
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has trashedperfect 3rd person singular
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have trashedperfect
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are trashingprogressive
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trashingparticiple
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am trashingprogressive 1st person singular
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is trashingprogressive 3rd person singular
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trashessingular 3rd person
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has been trashingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been trashingperfect progressive
Past
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had trashedperfect
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trashedsimple
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had been trashingperfect progressive
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trashedparticiple
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were trashingprogressive plural
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was trashingprogressive singular
Future
Etymology
Origin of trash
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English trasches (plural), apparently cognate with Norwegian trask “rubbish”; akin to Old English trus “brushwood,” Old Norse tros “rubbish”
Explanation
Trash is rubbish or garbage — it's the stuff that gets thrown away. Your town might organize a clean-up day each year when people pick up trash in parks and neighborhoods. Trash is dirty, worthless, leftover debris. Fittingly, the word is also a terribly derogatory term for useless, low-status people: "I should've known you were nothing but trash." And to trash talk is to brutally criticize or gossip about someone. You can even use trash as a verb, to mean "throw away," as in, "I'm going to trash this trash in that trash can over there."
Vocabulary lists containing trash
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And a $10 charge for trash hauling and $15 for valet trash service, on top of several other fees.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026
Tons of trash, ridden with glass and barbed wire, had to be removed from Nachusa in tractor trailers before the first of the bison could be reintroduced.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
The storm drains of São Paulo, population 12 million, empty into the rivers, carrying all sorts of trash from city streets.
From Slate • May 27, 2026
Responses on social media to the launch have ranged from describing it as "straight to the junkyard trash" to an "absolute masterclass in design".
From BBC • May 26, 2026
Mr. Grayson got a trash bag and Bat scooped the old straw into it.
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
