From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtrash canˈtrash can noun [countable] American English DHa large container with a lid into which you put empty bottles, used papers, food that has gone bad etc SYN dustbin British English
Examples from the Corpus
trash can• It apparently started in a trash can and spread to the attic area of an 80-room wing of the motel.• Cantor knew the depth of the trash can containing discarded hypotheses and discredited experiments in the cancer field. 