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Webster 1913 Edition

Rubbish

Rub′bish

,
Noun.
[OE.
robows
,
robeux
, rubble, originally an Old French plural from an assumed dim. of
robe
, probably in the sense of trash; cf. It.
robaccia
trash,
roba
stuff, goods, wares, robe. Thus, etymologically
rubbish
is the pl. of
rubble
. See
Robe
, and cf.
Rubble
.]
Waste or rejected matter; anything worthless; valueless stuff; trash; especially, fragments of building materials or fallen buildings; ruins; débris.
What
rubbish
and what offal!
Shakespeare
he saw the town’s one half in
rubbish
lie.
Dryden.
Rubbish pulley
.
See
Gin block
, under
Gin
.

Rub′bish

,
Adj.
Of or pertaining to rubbish; of the quality of rubbish; trashy.
De Quincey.

Definition 2024

rubbish

rubbish

English

Adjective

rubbish ‎(comparative more rubbish, superlative most rubbish)

  1. (chiefly Australia, New Zealand, Britain, colloquial) Exceedingly bad; awful; terrible; crappy.
    This has been a rubbish day, and it's about to get worse: my mother-in-law is coming to stay.
    • 1989, Phil South, Rage Hard (in Your Sinclair magazine, June 1989)
      Disk interfaces have been around since the year dot, as people soon realised that the microdrive was unreliable, unstable and generally rubbish for the storage of anything, useless except as a rather small beermat.

Translations

Interjection

rubbish! (chiefly Britain, Australia, New Zealand)

  1. (colloquial) Expresses that something is exceedingly bad, terrible or awful.
    The one day I actually practice my violin, the teacher cancels the lesson.
    Aw, rubbish! Though at least this means you have time to play football...
  2. Expresses that what was recently said is untruth or nonsense.
    Rubbish! I did nothing of the sort!

Synonyms

Translations

Noun

rubbish ‎(uncountable) (chiefly Britain, Australia, New Zealand)

  1. Garbage, junk, refuse, waste.
    The rubbish is collected every Thursday in Gloucester, but on Wednesdays in Cheltenham.
  2. Nonsense.
    Everything the teacher said during that lesson was rubbish. How can she possibly think that a bass viol and a cello are the same thing?
  3. Fragments of buildings; ruins; debris.
    • Dryden
      He saw the town's one half in rubbish lie.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:trash
  • See also Wikisaurus:nonsense

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

rubbish ‎(third-person singular simple present rubbishes, present participle rubbishing, simple past and past participle rubbished) (chiefly Britain, Australia, New Zealand)

  1. To denounce, to criticise, to denigrate, to disparage.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. 1 2 “rubbish” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
  2. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition

Etymology

From Middle English robous, from Anglo-Norman rubouses, of unknown origin; presumably ultimately from Proto-Germanic *raub- ‎(“to break”) (from whence rob, via meaning “plunder, destroy”). Related to rubble.[1][2] In verb sense “to criticize”, attested 1953 in Australian and New Zealand slang.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɹʌbɪʃ/
  • Hyphenation: rub‧bish

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