Meanings
verbgarbage collect (third-person singular simple present garbage collects, present participle garbage collecting, simple past and past participle garbage collected)
present singular third person garbage collects · participle present garbage collecting · participle past garbage collected · past garbage collected
- computingTo reclaim resources which are no longer in use; to run a garbage collector.
- transitivecomputingTo destroy (an object that is no longer in use) during the process of garbage collection
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Broader
Translations
Finnish siivota muisti
- siivota muistito reclaim resources no longer in use
French ramasser les miettes
- ramasser les miettesto reclaim resources no longer in use
Icelandic safna rusli
- safna ruslito reclaim resources no longer in use
Turkish çöp toplama
- çöp toplamato reclaim resources no longer in use
Cite this entry
APA
garbage collect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/garbage%20collect
MLA
“garbage collect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/garbage%20collect. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “garbage collect,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/garbage%20collect.
Source: garbage collect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.