# rubbish

Pronunciation: say "RUB-ish" /ˈɹʌbɪʃ/

## Noun

1. Waste material and unwanted things that people throw away. *(Commonwealth)*
   - Simple: Things people throw away because they no longer want or need them.
   - _The council collects household rubbish every Thursday morning._
   - _Volunteers cleared twenty bags of rubbish from the riverbank at the weekend._
2. Talk or writing that is foolish or makes no sense. *(Commonwealth)*
   - Simple: Words or ideas that are silly and make no sense.
   - _The report's claims about the new drug are complete rubbish._
   - _He talked rubbish all evening about his plans to buy a football club._
5. Something, or a number of things, of very poor quality. *(Commonwealth)*
   - Simple: Things that are badly made or not good.
   - _The gift shop was stocked with overpriced rubbish that nobody needed._
   - _Half the novels on the airport shelves are forgettable rubbish._

## Interjection

3. Used to say firmly that what someone has just said is nonsense or untrue. *(colloquial, Commonwealth, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: Said to show you think what someone just said is silly or not true.
   - _"Rubbish! I was at home all night and you know it."_
   - _"The match was fixed." "Oh, rubbish. They just played badly."_
7. Used to react to a situation or piece of news as awful or terrible. *(colloquial, Commonwealth, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: Said to show that you think something that happened is really bad.
   - _Rubbish. I've left my wallet on the bus, and my house keys were in it._
   - _"They've sold out of tickets." "Oh, rubbish, I really wanted to go."_

## Adjective

4. Extremely bad, to the point of being awful. *(colloquial, Commonwealth, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: Really bad, or not good at all.
   - _It was a rubbish film with a predictable ending and wooden acting._
   - _The signal out here is rubbish, so I'll ring you from the village._

## Verb

6. To criticize or belittle someone or something harshly. *(colloquial, Commonwealth, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: To say that someone or something is bad or worthless.
   - _Opposition leaders were quick to rubbish the government's figures._
   - _Critics rubbished her first novel, but readers loved it._
8. To make a place untidy by dropping litter in it. *(colloquial, Australia, Commonwealth, Hong Kong, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: To make a place messy by dropping litter in it.
   - _Signs along the highway warn drivers not to rubbish the bush._
   - _Campers who rubbish the national park face heavy fines._

## Noun

9. The debris and broken remains of fallen or ruined buildings. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Broken stones and pieces left when buildings fall down.
   - _Searchers dug through the rubbish of the collapsed tower for survivors._
   - _Nothing but rubbish and blackened beams marked where the abbey had stood._

## Origin

From Middle English robous ("rubbish, building rubble"), of uncertain further origin: it may come from Anglo-Norman rubous ("refuse, waste material; building rubble"; compare Anglo-Latin robousa), though those words may instead come from the English one, since no Old French cognates are known. It may be related to rubble, and possibly goes back to Old Norse rubba ("to huddle, crowd together, heap up", possibly also "to rub, scrape"), from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną ("to rub, scrape"). The verb comes from the noun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/rubbish (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).