litter bins

Meaning

1. 1nounpluralBritish

   Containers placed in public spaces where people are expected to throw away small pieces of rubbish such as wrappers and cans.

   Grammar: Plural of litter bin; takes a plural verb: the litter bins are full.

   Patterns

   • litter bins in somewhere
   • put something in the litter bins

   The council added more litter bins along the beach path.

   Please use the litter bins by the gate instead of dropping wrappers on the grass.

   Several litter bins were overturned after the festival.

Word forms

Common combinations

empty the litter bins

Workers empty the litter bins every morning before the market opens.

overflowing litter bins

Overflowing litter bins attracted gulls to the promenade.

install litter bins

The school plans to install litter bins around the playground.

public litter bins

Public litter bins are rare in this part of town.

recycling litter bins

Recycling litter bins now stand beside the ordinary ones.

Synonyms and how they differ

trash cans

Trash cans is the usual American term, while litter bins sounds British and suggests public street containers specifically.

rubbish bins

Rubbish bins can also mean large household bins, whereas litter bins are normally the small public ones.

waste baskets

Waste baskets are small indoor containers, so they do not fit streets and parks as litter bins do.

Word family

litter noun

rubbish left lying in public places

litter verb

to drop rubbish carelessly

litterer noun

a person who drops rubbish in public

littering noun

the act of dropping rubbish where it should not be

Commonly confused: litter bins or litter box?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “litter bins”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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