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Glite Dictionary
toxic waste

toxic waste

36 3.5
Poisonous materials people throw away that can harm health or nature
  • noun
  • /ˈtɑksɪk weɪst/
translation icon : residuo tóxico
  • Living near a toxic waste dump can pose serious health risks to the local population.
  • toxic waste dump
  • toxic waste site
  • pollution from toxic waste

They went heavy in the wind and now they got huge toxic waste dumps filled with, you know, blades that they can't recycle.

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Examples

  • Chemical contamination and toxic waste resulting from industrial processes figure prominently on a growing list of health hazards.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The place is stacked from floor to ceiling with barrels of toxic waste.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • I saw toxic waste signs.

    Bad Company (2018)

  • Live near a toxic waste dump?

    Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021)

  • At a toxic waste site with the press in attendance?

    First Reformed (2018)

  • Nor was it the site of a toxic waste facility or dump.

    Academic text (2005)

  • - It's a toxic-waste dump.

    Sahara (2005)

  • I can't imagine the restaurants near a toxic waste disposal site are truly first class.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Nowhere has this pressure been clearer than in the struggles of toxic waste activists across the nation.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The factory was fined for improperly disposing of toxic waste that contaminated the nearby river.

How Hazardous

toxic industrial waste
  • Specialized
1 4.7
toxic waste
36 3.5
pollutant
36 4.3
waste
536 1.0

Surface Forms

toxic waste singular
toxic wastes plural

Morphology

toxic + waste

The noun phrase combines the adjective 'toxic' (poisonous) with 'waste' (discarded material), so the meaning 'poisonous/chemical refuse' is directly and compositionally derivable from the parts. This adjective+noun compound is a common, literal pattern found across many languages (e.g. Spanish 'residuos tóxicos'), so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand it.

Etymology

The compound noun toxic waste comes from the words toxic, which means 'poisonous', and waste, which means 'garbage'. Imagine poisonous trash leaking into a river and making people and animals sick, so the phrase means 'poisonous garbage that harms people or the environment'.