bin

bin — noun

1. an open or lidded container, often kept in a kitchen, bathroom, or street, where

1.nounB1
Definition

an open or lidded container, often kept in a kitchen, bathroom, or street, where you drop things you no longer want.

Example

Mateo tossed the empty pizza box into the kitchen bin.

into the bin: typical motion verb + preposition

Please put your banana peel in the green bin outside the school gate.

in the [colour] bin: recycling collocation

Common collocations
  • empty the bin
  • kitchen bin
  • rubbish bin
  • recycling bin
  • wheelie bin
  • in the bin
  • into the bin
Synonyms
  • rubbish bin

    British, fully spelled-out form for general household waste

  • trash can

    American equivalent of the everyday bin

  • wastebasket

    smaller bin, usually for paper, kept beside a desk

  • dustbin

    older British term, often the larger outdoor one

Usage Note

Mainly British; American speakers more often say trash can or garbage can. Often modified by what goes inside (rubbish bin, recycling bin, compost bin) or where it sits (kitchen bin, wheelie bin).

Common Mistakes

I threw the letter to the bin.
I threw the letter in the bin.
use 'in' or 'into' with bin, not 'to'.

2. a deep box or chest, often covered, where you keep grain, flour, coal, bread, or

2.nounB2
Definition

a deep box or chest, often covered, where you keep grain, flour, coal, bread, or similar bulk goods tidy and protected.

Example

The farmer scooped wheat from the wooden grain bin in the barn.

compound: grain bin (storage of bulk crops)

Wairimu keeps her flour in a metal bin beside the fridge.

in a [material] bin: storage location pattern

Common collocations
  • grain bin
  • coal bin
  • bread bin
  • storage bin
  • labelled bin
Synonyms
  • chest

    wooden box with a lid, often larger and more decorative

  • container

    broader term covering any holding object

  • crate

    open wooden or plastic box for shipping or storage

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: a storage bin protects something you want to keep, while a waste bin holds things you want to discard. Often appears in fixed compounds (grain bin, coal bin, bread bin, storage bin).

bin — verb

Word family

  • binful
    noun
  • binman
    noun

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name a container for things you no longer want, but they differ by region, size, and setting. 'Bin' is the everyday British term and covers everything from a small one beside a desk to a wheeled outdoor one. 'Dustbin' is older and now sounds slightly dated; British speakers usually save it for the larger outdoor container collected by the council. 'Trash can' is the standard American term and is neutral in register; an American kitchen has a trash can, not a bin. 'Wastebasket' is also American but smaller and lighter, typically a paper-only container in an office or bedroom. So a Londoner empties the kitchen bin, a New Yorker takes out the trash can, and an office worker in Chicago drops a torn memo into the wastebasket.

bin ↗trash canwastebasketdustbin

Common collocations

Nouns

  • rubbish bin
  • kitchen bin
  • recycling bin
  • wheelie bin
  • bread bin
  • grain bin
  • storage bin

Phrases

  • empty the bin
  • take out the bin
  • throw it in the bin

Prepositions

  • in the bin
  • into the bin
  • out of the bin

Etymology

CelticOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word goes back to Old English 'binn', meaning a manger or open box for feeding animals. The same root appears in older Germanic languages and probably entered English from a Celtic word for a basket or crib. For centuries it kept its 'storage box' meaning (grain bin, coal bin), and only in twentieth-century British English did the 'rubbish container' sense, and the verb 'to bin', become the everyday meaning most learners meet first.