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.
"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
People snow skiing down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, garbage can lids and plastic baby pools used as makeshift sleds, snowmen on the beach; it was something out of this world.
From Salon • Jan. 29, 2025
Our staff wrote dozens and dozens of excellent jokes, well constructed, funny, interesting, surprising jokes that we threw in the garbage can because they weren’t right for our show’s particular tone.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2024
I slam it shut, file it in my garbage can.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
