garbage can
noun
Simple meaning
A receptacle, usually roughly cylindrical and wider at the top than at the bottom, which serves as a place to discard waste materials.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
gahrbihjkanSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɑɹbɪdʒˈkæn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
canadaus
A receptacle, usually roughly cylindrical and wider at the top than at the bottom, which serves as a place to discard waste materials.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A receptacle, usually roughly cylindrical and wider at the top than at the bottom, which serves as a place to discard waste materials.
Used this way, garbage can is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “garbage can” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.