dumping ground

Noun

dumping ground (plural dumping grounds)

1. A landfill.
2. (figuratively) Any place where unwanted items are sent.
   • The Indian representative of a global trade union called IndustriALL warned that other clothes and accessories shipped overseas might also be radioactive because India has become a "dumping ground" for the West's hazardous waste.2015, Alison Matthews David, Fashion Victims: The Damages of Dress Past and Present, →ISBN, page 210
   • Around 25 years ago, it was used as a dumping ground for Toton locomotives destined for scrapyards.2021 June 16, “Network News: Boost for Stanton Gate revival”, in RAIL, number 933, page 14
3. A presumably polyphyletic supraspecific taxon where species of unclear affinities are placed.
   • Several genera, e.g. Miltonia Lindl., Odontoglossum Kunth and Oncidium Sw., have historically been viewed as taxa of convenience and thus became dumping grounds for species of unclear relationships.2008 December, Mark W. Chase et al., “Taxonomic transfers in Oncidiinae to accord with Genera Orchidacearum, Vol. 5”, in Lindleyana

   Synonyms:

   wastebasket taxon