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

One touchdown was all the Broncos' D allowed, and that came in garbage time.—

Paul Zimmerman

Examples of garbage time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

His appearances, often in garbage time, haven’t provided enough runway to build trust or rhythm. —

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 9 Jan. 2025 As one of the last guards in the rotation, Chris Duarte had made only 13 appearances this season, mostly slotting in for the final minutes of garbage time. —

Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 9 Jan. 2025 Tyson has played in garbage time in seven of the last eight games, but has failed to score in his last four outings. —

Sam Allard, Axios, 8 Jan. 2025 By the 7:42 mark of the third quarter, the Packers were leading 27-3 in cold temperatures in Wisconsin before the Dolphins scored 14 points in garbage time. —

Ben Morse, CNN, 29 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for garbage time