garbage
gar·bage/ˈɡɑɹ.bɪd͡ʒ/noun, adjective
garbage is spelled G-A-R-B-A-G-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (gar·bage). It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, garbage means “Food waste material of any kind” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in garbage?
| Letters | 7: G-A-R-B-A-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: gar·bage |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,309th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is garbage?
Garbage appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce garbage?
- UK /ˈɡɑː.bɪd͡ʒ/
- US /ˈɡɑɹ.bɪd͡ʒ/
- Australia /ˈɡaː.bɪd͡ʒ/
Garbage has 2 syllables, split gar·bage in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-garbage.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of garbage
- garbages present, singular, he/she/it
- garbaging participle, present
- garbaged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does garbage mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
AustraliaCanadaUSFood waste material of any kind.
- 2
AustraliaCanadaUSarchaicFoul, rotten or unripe vegetable matter.
- 3
AustraliaCanadaUSUseless or disposable material; waste material of any kind.
The garbage truck collects all residential municipal waste.
- 4
AustraliaCanadaUSSpecifically, waste material destined not to be reclaimed through recycling, composting, etc.
Compost goes in the brown bin and is picked up Monday, recycling goes in blue bags and is picked up Wednesday, and garbage goes in black bags and is picked up Thursday.
- 5
AustraliaCanadaUSA place or receptacle for waste material.
He threw the newspaper into the garbage.
- 6
AustraliaCanadaUSNonsense; gibberish.
This machine translation is garbage.
- 7
AustraliaCanadaUSSomething or someone worthless.
- 8
AustraliaCanadaUSobsoleteThe bowels of an animal; refuse parts of flesh; offal.
adjective
- 1
AustraliaCanadaUSinformalbad, crap, shitty
verb
- 1
AustraliaCanadaUSobsoleteto eviscerate
I have bought at Boston a dozen Pidgeons ready pulled and garbidged for three pence.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Garbage in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense waste material:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ordures, déchet, poubelle |
| German | Abfall, Müll |
| Portuguese | lixo |
| Spanish | basura, desperdicios |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does garbage come from?
From late Middle English garbage (“the offal of a fowl, giblets, kitchen waste”, originally “refuse, what is purged away”), from Anglo-Norman, from Old French garber (“to refine, make neat or clean”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *garwijan (“to make ready”). Akin to Old High German garawan (“to prepare, make ready”), Old English ġearwian (“to make ready, adorn”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).