Meaning & use
wheely bins
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Meanings
nounpluralBritishinformal
Large plastic containers with wheels and a lid, used by households in Britain for putting out rubbish to be collected.
Grammar: Usually plural because most households have more than one; the singular is 'wheely bin'.
Patterns
- put the wheely bins out
- the wheely bins are collected on Tuesdays
- a wheely bin for recycling
The wheely bins go out on the pavement every Thursday morning.
Our street has three wheely bins: one for general waste, one for recycling, and one for garden cuttings.
Someone left the wheely bins blocking the whole driveway.
nouncountableBritishinformal
A single such container, especially when talking about its size, color, or condition.
Grammar: Use the singular with an or the when you mean just one container: 'a wheely bin'.
Patterns
- a wheely bin
- an extra wheely bin
The council delivered a new wheely bin after ours was damaged.
We need a bigger wheely bin because the family keeps growing.
Word forms
| singular | wheely bin |
|---|
Common combinations
- put the wheely bins out
- Don't forget to put the wheely bins out before you leave for work.
- wheelie bin collection
- The wheelie bin collection has been moved to Friday because of the holiday.
- a full wheely bin
- After the party the wheely bin was completely full.
- household wheely bin
- Each household wheely bin has a number painted on the side.
- wheely bin day
- Tuesday is wheely bin day in our area, so the streets are crowded with containers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bin
- The general British word for any container for rubbish; 'wheely bin' specifically means the large one with wheels.
- dustbin
- An older British word for a rubbish container, usually a smaller metal or plastic one without wheels.
- trash can
- The usual American term; it can be any size and does not necessarily have wheels.
- dumpster
- A much larger metal container, often shared by a whole building, and not usually kept by one household.
Word family
Commonly confused: wheely bins or wheelie?
wheely bins vs wheelie
'Wheelie' on its own usually refers to a trick of balancing a bicycle or motorcycle on one wheel, or to a wheelie bin in informal British speech; the spelling with 'ie' and the spelling with 'y' are both seen, but 'wheely bin' is the common household spelling.
Practice
Which sentence uses the British term correctly?
Choose one answer.
'The wheely bins' is the usual plural form for the household containers, and 'arrives' agrees with the singular 'truck'. Option 1 uses the singular when several containers are meant, option 2 has a subject-verb agreement error, and option 3 wrongly puts 'a' before a plural noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wheely bins”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.