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wastebasket

[wayst-bas-kit, -bah-skit] / ˈweɪstˌbæs kɪt, -ˌbɑ skɪt /


NOUN
circular file
Synonyms




Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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The wastebasket at the Andaz Lisbon was so small I seriously thought it was an umbrella holder.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Do it once, but make sure to sit beside a wastebasket.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2025

These commitments are important, as they give Kennedy something to wad up and christen his wastebasket with when he steps into his new office.

From Slate ● Feb. 8, 2025

This trend should be in the same wastebasket as mullets, microwave dinners and inflated lips.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2024

No one had noticed the small torn piece of paper at first; then Mrs. Fitzgibbon had absently picked it up and tossed it into the wastebasket.

From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien

As a housemate, he was catastrophic—overturning wastebaskets, ransacking drawers and drenching manuscripts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026

When that happens, residents are forced to defecate in wastebaskets in their rooms and then, he said, take “the walk of shame” to deposit their feces in hallway trash rooms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2023

She herself had emptied the wastebaskets as a little girl.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 5, 2022

Functional pieces such as glassware, towels and wastebaskets don’t have to be boring.

From Washington Post ● May 19, 2022

The fresh towels ready for spoilage, the wastebaskets gaping their invitations, beckoning in the careless junk.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood


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