waste-paper basket
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Peter Drucker, a management guru, summed up the mood of the refuseniks: “One of the secrets of productivity is to have a very big waste-paper basket to take care of all invitations such as yours.”
From Economist • Aug. 15, 2013
The score sounds as if Weinberg had raided Shostakovich’s waste-paper basket for scrunched up castoffs.
From BusinessWeek • Oct. 2, 2011
The past would not exist for either of us, we were starting afresh, he and I. The past had blown away like the ashes in the waste-paper basket.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
With frightening suddenness he now began ripping the pages out of the book in handfuls and throwing them in the waste-paper basket.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
I crumpled it and threw it into the waste-paper basket.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
