Link Centre Dictionary

rubbish

rub·bish

UK/ˈɹʌbɪʃ/ US/ˈrʌbɪʃ/ common uk
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

worthless material that is to be disposed of

Synonyms
2.

verb

1.

Origin

Inherited from Middle English robous (“rubbish, building rubble”), further origin uncertain; possibly from Anglo-Norman rubous, rubouse, rubbouse (“refuse, waste material; building rubble”), and compare Anglo-Latin rebbussa, robousa, robusium, robusum, rubisum, rubusa, rubusium (although the Anglo-Norman and Anglo-Latin words may be derived from the English word instead of the other way around, as there are no known Old French cognates of the word). The English word may be related to rubble, though the connection is unclear. Possibly derived ultimately from Old Norse rubba (“to huddle, crowd together, heap up", also possibly "to rub, scrape”), from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną (“to rub, scrape”). Compare Swedish rubba (“to move, displace, dislodge, upset”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Phrases

  • good riddance of bad rubbish
  • good riddance to bad rubbish
  • piece of rubbish
  • Rose Garden rubbish
  • rubbish bag
  • rubbish bin
  • rubbish dump
  • rubbish in, rubbish out

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.