trash can
72
1.0
- noun
- /træʃ kæn/
- US
:
cubo de basura
- Please put any leftover food in the trash can before you leave the kitchen.
I'm going to get a trash can real quick.
- I'm going to get a trash can real quick.
- Tell me about your feelings with those trash cans.
- Oh, there's no trash can here, but there's one right there.
- A lot of alleys and trash cans and places to hit.
Examples
-
Today is also trash day, so we gotta bring the trash can back up.
-
Well, we got this awesome trash can over here by Simple Human.
-
You guys have seen my luck with a smart trash can in my kitchen.
-
It's in a trash can.
-
Do you have a trash can?
-
I just sit there, staring at the trash can, thinking about my sister.
Fiction book (1996) -
When he'd finished, he put the box in the trash can and sat down to read a magazine.
Fiction book (1993) -
Her mother was gone, the trailer empty except for a trash can and a few pieces of broken-down furniture.
Fiction book (1992) -
We saw you dumping this stuff in a trash can in Cervantes Park.
-
The trash can was overflowing, so I decided to take it out to the curb.
Synonyms
190
2.7
A large metal container for holding garbage outside buildings
119
1.0
A container with a lid for storing or throwing away things
60
1.0
A bin with a lid that holds household waste until someone takes it away
15
1.0
A container with an open top for holding paper and small bits of rubbish
10
1.0
A container for household rubbish
4
1.0
A container for holding rubbish until it is taken away
3
1.6
A bin with an open top for throwing away paper and small rubbish
2
1.1
A large round bin for holding rubbish until someone collects it
2
1.3
A container with an open top for small trash like paper
A bin for rubbish kept until it is collected
A bin in public places where people put trash
A bin in public places where people put rubbish
A small open container for throwing away paper and other small rubbish
A container for a specific kind of waste, for example food or batteries
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning (a place where discarded items are kept) is directly built from 'trash' (rubbish) + 'can' (a container); the idea of a container holding rubbish maps transparently onto a location for deleted items. Although the computing sense is a metaphorical extension, this container-for-waste metaphor is widespread cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Trash can comes from the simple image of a metal can full of trash. People put rubbish in it and leave it until the collectors take it away, so it means 'a container for holding waste until it is collected'.