trash

Definition

Useless physical things to be discarded; rubbish; refuse.

Etymology

From Middle English trasch, trassh, probably a dialectal form of *trass (compare Orkney truss, English dialectal trous), from Old Norse tros (“rubbish, fallen leaves and twigs”), perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *þrakjaz (“dirt”). Pokorny instead derives it from Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”). Compare Norwegian trask (“lumber, trash, baggage”), Swedish trasa (“rag, cloth, worthless fellow”), Swedish trås (“dry fallen twigs, wood-waste”). Compare also Old English þreax (“rottenness, rubbish”).

Example Sentences

• "A haunch of venison would be trash to a Brahmin."
• "When your life is trash, you don't have much to lose."
• "(chiefly British)"

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