Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wastebasket

/wˈeɪstbˌæskət/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.08 in modern English

Syllables: waste-bas-ket
IPA: /wˈeɪstbˌæskət/

20

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A usually small indoor receptacle for items that are to be discarded; a rubbish bin.

noun

Any region or grouping that is worthless or meaningless.

verb

To discard in a wastebasket.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"The order Insectivora provides such a taxonomic wastebasket in classifications of the placental mammals."
"For these reasons, the study of idioms, proverbs, stock metaphors, and other conversational gambits has been mostly discouraged, and at best relegated to research in pragmatics, or the “linguistic wastebasket” […]"
"I was aweary, aweary, and I put it in the waste basket. Ten days later the bill came again, and with it a shadowy threat. I waste-basketed it."

Etymology

From waste + basket.

Usage

Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

wastebaskets (plural) wastebaskets (present, singular) wastebasketing (participle, present) wastebasketed (participle, past) wastebasketed (past)

Phrases

wastebasket taxon wastepaper basket

Frequently Paired Words

wastepaper basket

Synonyms

wastepaper basket waste-paper basket waste basket circular file

Questions

How do you pronounce wastebasket?: The recorded pronunciation is /wˈeɪstbˌæskət/.
What does wastebasket mean?: A usually small indoor receptacle for items that are to be discarded; a rubbish bin.
Where does wastebasket come from?: From waste + basket.

How to pronounce wastebasket

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “wastebasket”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/wˈeɪstbˌæskət/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “wastebasket”.
Repeat and practice — Say “wastebasket” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.