garbage can
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of garbage can
An Americanism dating back to 1905–10
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.
Another created an animated video, geared to a Latino audience, showing Angelenos lining the streets to cheer as Pratt wheels a garbage can piled with trash and the incumbent mayor.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
"They don't see us as a town. To them we're just another garbage can," she said.
From Barron's • May 13, 2026
“No Black person’s ever asked me why Mookie threw the garbage can through the window,” he notes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 20, 2025
A few minutes later I came upon another man, who was digging through a garbage can for something to drink.
From Salon • Aug. 5, 2025
Taylor crushes his bag and hands it back to me, empty, like I'm a garbage can.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
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.
