garbage time
noun
US, sports
: the final moments or minutes of a game in which one side has an insurmountable lead, substitutes often enter the game in place of starting players, and scoring is typically easier because of looser defensive play
… the forgotten foursome of Greg Kite, Fred Roberts, Sam Vicent and Conner Henry will be on call in case of extreme emergency and those meaningless minutes appropriately referred to as garbage time.—
Gerry Finn
Gerry FinnOne touchdown was all the Broncos' D allowed, and that came in garbage time.—Paul Zimmerman
Paul ZimmermanExamples of garbage time in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
He was sacked seven times, leading the Browns to 196 total yards and 1-of-13 on third down before Jameis Winston took over in garbage time.
—Vincent Frank, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024
And to add injury to insult, Ionescu shushed the crowd after draining a trey in the final seconds of garbage time.
—Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 1 Aug. 2024
Margin of victory matters in group play, so there’s no such thing as garbage time, but Tatum’s exclusion from the rotation will raise questions for Kerr.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 28 July 2024
After that, the rest of the inspection is pretty much garbage time (literally), but there were also live roaches walking solo under a kitchen wok, in front of a walk-in freezer, on racks next to the back door and on a wall above the three-compartment sink.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 4 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for garbage time 
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of
Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback
about these examples.
Vincent Frank, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024
And to add injury to insult, Ionescu shushed the crowd after draining a trey in the final seconds of garbage time.
—Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 1 Aug. 2024
Margin of victory matters in group play, so there’s no such thing as garbage time, but Tatum’s exclusion from the rotation will raise questions for Kerr.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 28 July 2024
After that, the rest of the inspection is pretty much garbage time (literally), but there were also live roaches walking solo under a kitchen wok, in front of a walk-in freezer, on racks next to the back door and on a wall above the three-compartment sink.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 4 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for garbage time
Articles Related to garbage time
Dictionary Entries Near garbage time
Cite this Entry
“Garbage time.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garbage%20time. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share