trash heap of history

noun

A notional place where events, people or objects which have been forgotten or have become irrelevant from a historical perspective are placed or recorded.

Similar
ash heap of historydust heap of historygarbage heap of historyashcan of historydustbin of historylandfill of historytrash bin of history
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounthe trash heap of history
  1. figurativelyA notional place where events, people or objects which have been forgotten or have become irrelevant from a historical perspective are placed or recorded.

    As I talked with Billy, it suddenly hit me that I needed to do something—no matter how minor—to save these stories from the trash heap of history.

    2012, Michael Bellesiles, A People's History of the U.S. Military, The New Press, →ISBN
    1 more example

    My ONLY hero is Muhammad Mustafa SAW and whatever he gave us will prevail and every thing else that stands against it is doomed to be decimated and end up in the trash heap of history, as you put it.

    2016, Kaare Sørensen, quoting David Headley, The Mind of a Terrorist, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN

    Synonyms: ash heap of history, dust heap of history, garbage heap of history, ashcan of history, dustbin of history, landfill of history, trash bin of history

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA notional place where events, people or objects which have been forgotten or have become irrelevant from a historical perspective are placed or recorded.

Similar
ash heap of historydust heap of historygarbage heap of historyashcan of historydustbin of historylandfill of historytrash bin of history
Also see
ashcan of historyash heap of historydustbin of historydust heap of historygarbage heap of historylandfill of historytrash bin of history

Origin

In a similar form (“that great dust heap called ‘history’”) used by English essayist Augustine Birrell in 1887 (but in use before), popularized by Leon Trotsky in reference to the Mensheviks (1917).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مَزْبَلَة التَّارِيخ
  • مَزْبَلَة التَّارِيخhistorical irrelevance
Finnish historian romukoppa
  • historian romukoppahistorical irrelevance
French oubliettes de l'histoire, poubelles de l’Histoire
  • oubliettes de l'histoirehistorical irrelevance
  • poubelles de l’Histoirehistorical irrelevance
German Müllhaufen der Geschichte
  • Müllhaufen der Geschichtehistorical irrelevance
Persian زبالهدان تاریخ
  • زبالهدان تاریخ (zobâle-dân-e târix)historical irrelevance
Polish śmietnik historii
  • śmietnik historiihistorical irrelevance
Russian свалка истории
  • свалка истории (svalka istorii)historical irrelevance
Swedish historiens skräphög
  • historiens skräphöghistorical irrelevance
Cite this entry
APA

trash heap of history. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trash%20heap%20of%20history

MLA

“trash heap of history.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trash%20heap%20of%20history. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trash heap of history,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trash%20heap%20of%20history.

Source: trash heap of history on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.