ashcan

plural ashcans

1. A container for collecting ashes, especially from wood and coal fires, for eventual disposal elsewhere.

   Synonyms: ashbin

2. idiomaticA dustbin, trash can, or the like.

   He chain-lit a fresh cigarette and flicked the old butt, still smouldering, into the steel ash-can beside his drawing table.

   1957, Sydney J. Bounds, The Robot Brains, London: Digit Books, page 32

   Synonyms: ashbin

3. USidiomaticslangA kind of large firecracker.
4. slanggovernmentA depth charge.

present singular third person ashcans · participle present ashcanning · participle past ashcanned · past ashcanned

1. informaltransitiveTo throw out like rubbish; to ditch or trash.

1. not comparableOf or pertaining to the Ashcan School of American art.
2. not comparableDescribing a comic book originally published solely to retain ownership of a trademark, not intended for general release; later used for promotional comic books intended for limited release to the public.