Meanings
- uncountablehobbiesThe period at the end of a timed sporting event that has become a blowout when the outcome of the game has already been decided, and the coaches of one or both teams will often decide to replace their best players with substitutes.
I play for two minutes of garbage time at the end of a blowout? Is that all the time I'm going to see anymore?
1991, Kathleen Warnock, To the Top, page 162 more examples
It was garbage time, really, but it was a chance to get Corey some playing time, and Pedersen was out of pitchers anyway.
2012, Don Winslow, The Gentlemen's Hour: A Novel, page 92I usually just got in during garbage time, which there was a lot of that year as we rolled to another state championship.
2014, Jim Farrell, Kiss Me, Kate and Other Stories, page 199Synonyms: junk time
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe period at the end of a timed sporting event that has become a blowout when the outcome of the game has already been decided, and the coaches of one or both teams will often decide to replace their best players with substitutes.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 垃圾時間 /垃圾时间
- 垃圾時間 /垃圾时间 (lājī shíjiān)Translations
Cite this entry
garbage time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/garbage%20time
“garbage time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/garbage%20time. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “garbage time,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/garbage%20time.
Source: garbage time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.