garage sale

American

noun

a sale of used or unwanted household goods, personal items, bric-a-brac, etc., typically held in one's garage or yard.

garage sale British

noun

a sale of personal belongings or household effects held at a person's home, usually in the garage

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

garage sales

plural

Etymology

Origin of garage sale

An Americanism dating back to 1960–65

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.

See Examples For:

garage sale

I wrote to you earlier about hosting a garage sale.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026

“They’re painting the whole sector with the same brush, and I think that’s been the opportunity to buy some of the winners at garage sale prices,” Ives says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

He has so much sports equipment and so many shoes in his closet from all the sports he’s tried that he could put on a garage sale.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2025

Having a garage sale isn’t going to stave off economic doom.

From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025

I picture officers in navy jackets throwing my makeup collection into a trash bag or selling my clothes at a garage sale.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023