RUBBISH

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does rubbish mean? 

• RUBBISH (noun)
  The noun RUBBISH has 2 senses:

1. worthless material that is to be disposed of

2. nonsensical talk or writing

  Familiarity information: RUBBISH used as a noun is rare.

• RUBBISH (verb)
  The verb RUBBISH has 1 sense:

1. attack strongly

  Familiarity information: RUBBISH used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUBBISH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Worthless material that is to be disposed of

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

rubbish; scrap; trash

Hypernyms ("rubbish" is a kind of...):

waste; waste material; waste matter; waste product (any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rubbish"):

scrap metal (discarded metal suitable for reprocessing)

debris; detritus; dust; junk; rubble (the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up)

litter (rubbish carelessly dropped or left about (especially in public places))

Derivation:

rubbishy (cheap and inferior; of no value)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Nonsensical talk or writing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

applesauce; codswallop; folderol; rubbish; trash; tripe; trumpery; wish-wash

Hypernyms ("rubbish" is a kind of...):

drivel; garbage (a worthless message)

Domain usage:

argot; cant; jargon; lingo; patois; slang; vernacular (a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves))

• RUBBISH (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attack strongly

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "rubbish" is one way to...):

assail; assault; attack; lash out; round; snipe (attack in speech or writing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

Why, Jo, your stories are works of Shakespeare compared to half the rubbish that is published every day.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"No," said he; "I am sick of all that rubbish!"

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The stream is as good as at first; the little rubbish it collects in the turnings is easily moved away.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I measured a little finger which had fallen down from one of these statues, and lay unperceived among some rubbish, and found it exactly four feet and an inch in length.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

"Why, I was appalled at the quantities of rubbish written about Stevenson and his work."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I obeyed, and the two brutes picked up the senseless man like a sack of rubbish and hove him clear up the companion stairs, through the narrow doorway, and out on deck.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

While tiny fragments of plastic are the most numerous, nearly half of the weight of rubbish is composed of discarded fishing nets.

(Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch Growing Rapidly, Study Finds, VOA)

In those days I was young, and all sorts of fancies bright and dark tenanted my mind: the memories of nursery stories were there amongst other rubbish; and when they recurred, maturing youth added to them a vigour and vividness beyond what childhood could give.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"Sorry you could find nothing better to read. I write that rubbish because it sells, and ordinary people like it. Are you going to New York this winter?"

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Winter snows, I thought, had drifted through that void arch, winter rains beaten in at those hollow casements; for, amidst the drenched piles of rubbish, spring had cherished vegetation: grass and weed grew here and there between the stones and fallen rafters.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)