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Synonyms

trash can

American  

noun

  1. a container for the disposal of dry waste matter.

trash can British  

noun

  1. Also called: ash can.   garbage can.  a US name for dustbin

"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

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.

Poer likes to joke that he has to get rid of Quillian’s things when he isn’t looking or “he would climb into the trash can and pull things back out.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

“The trash can issue is probably something I could tolerate much more easily.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 2026

Earlier this month, a Gardena police officer responded to a report that there were whimpers and cries coming from a self-compacting trash can outside a local church.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2025

But as we’re walking, a woman in a black sweater and messy bun comes out of a house up ahead, trash can in tow.

From Slate • Oct. 27, 2025

In his final, careless act as a double agent, Ames had left incriminating notes to and from the KGB in his trash can.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

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.