garbage

Compared meaning: waste material, trash (noun).

比较义项：垃圾、废弃物（名词）。

• refuse

  Refuse is a formal, often official word for waste material, typically used in British institutional contexts like council refuse collection; it is uncommon in casual, everyday speech.

  refuse是较为正式、带官方色彩的词，多用于英式行政语境（如市政生活垃圾收运），在日常口语中很少使用。

  Refuse must be placed in council-issued bins before the weekly collection.

  垃圾必须放入市政指定的垃圾桶内，等待每周收运。

• garbage 本词

  Garbage is the ordinary, informal word for waste, especially in American English, commonly used for household trash people put out for collection.

  garbage是普通、口语化的词，尤见于美式英语，常指家庭丢弃、等待收运的垃圾。

  I forgot to take the garbage out, so it started to smell in the kitchen.

  我忘了把垃圾拿出去倒，结果厨房里开始有臭味了。

Refuse and garbage both mean waste material. Refuse is formal, often official, as in council refuse collection, and uncommon in casual speech. Garbage is the ordinary, informal word for waste, especially in American English. It does not cover refuse as a verb, to say no.

这两个词在“垃圾、废弃物”这个意义上很接近，但语域不同：refuse较为正式、书面，常见于英式市政等官方语境；garbage是口语化用词，尤其常见于美式英语中日常丢弃的生活垃圾。这里不比较refuse作动词表示“拒绝”的意思。