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trash

[trash]
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noun
  1. anything worthless, useless, or discarded; rubbish.
  2. foolish or pointless ideas, talk, or writing; nonsense.
  3. a worthless or disreputable person.
  4. such persons collectively.
  5. literary or artistic material of poor or inferior quality.
  6. broken or torn bits, as twigs, splinters, rags, or the like.
  7. something that is broken or lopped off from anything in preparing it for use.
  8. the refuse of sugar cane after the juice has been expressed.
  9. Computers. an icon of a trash can that is used to delete files dragged onto it.
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verb (used with object)
  1. Slang. to destroy, damage, or vandalize, as in anger or protest: The slovenly renters had trashed the house.
  2. to condemn, dismiss, or criticize as worthless: The article trashed several recent best-sellers.
  3. to remove the outer leaves of (a growing sugar cane plant).
  4. to free from superfluous twigs or branches.
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Origin of trash

1325–75; Middle English trasches (plural), apparently cognate with Norwegian trask rubbish; akin to Old English trus brushwood, Old Norse tros rubbish

Synonyms

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5. drivel, rot, hogwash, nonsense.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

residuejunkdroppingsrubblelitterdebrisrubbishwastesedimentnonsensedregsrefuseleavingsfilthrummagescrapscumdrossoffalexcess

Examples from the Web for trash

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • It is well known in the West Country, but the old words are trash.

  • They knew what they were doing when they passed their trash upon her!

    Salted With Fire

    George MacDonald

  • I deny it;—the dramatic muse, as you call him, was a fool:—trash indeed!

  • It is not that I wished to know for how much you wrote that trash: but with what object.

    Debts of Honor

    Maurus Jkai

  • "We'll dig a hole and bury all the trash," said Eustice Gray instantly.

    Rosemary

    Josephine Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for trash

trash1

noun
  1. foolish ideas or talk; nonsense
  2. mainly US and Canadian useless or unwanted matter or objects
  3. a literary or artistic production of poor quality
  4. mainly US and Canadian a poor or worthless person or a group of such people
  5. bits that are broken or lopped off, esp the trimmings from trees or plants
  6. the dry remains of sugar cane after the juice has been extracted
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verb
  1. to remove the outer leaves and branches from (growing plants, esp sugar cane)
  2. slang to attack or destroy (someone or something) wilfully or maliciously
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Derived Formstrashery, noun

Word Origin

C16: of obscure origin; perhaps related to Norwegian trask

trash2

verb
  1. (tr) to restrain with or as if with a lead
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noun
  1. a lead for a dog
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Word Origin

C17: perhaps from obsolete French tracier to track, trace 1
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

Word Origin and History for trash

n.

"anything of little use or value," late 14c., perhaps from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse tros "rubbish, fallen leaves and twigs," Norwegian dialectal trask "lumber, trash, baggage," Swedish trasa "rags, tatters"), of unknown origin. Applied to ill-bred persons or groups from 1604 ("Othello"). Applied to domestic refuse or garbage in 1906 (American English).

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v.

"to discard as worthless," 1895, from trash (n.); in the sense of "destroy, vandalize" it is attested from 1970; extended to "criticize severely" in 1975. Related: Trashed; trashing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper