Definition of "junk"

What a piece of junk!

1977, George Lucas, Star Wars: A New Hope, spoken by Luke Skywalker

In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.

2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8837, page 74

The poor fellow took so much junk into his system he could only weather the greater proportion of his day in that chair with the lamp burning at noon, but in the morning he was magnificent.

1957, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Viking Press

Trace a line of goose pimples up the thin young arm. Slide the needle in and push the bulb watching the junk hit him all over. Move right in with the shit and suck junk through all the hungry young cells.

1966 , William S. Burroughs, The Soft Machine (The Nova Trilogy), New York: Grove Press, page 7

Ah love nothing (except junk), ah hate nothing (except forces that prevent me getting any) and ah fear nothing (except not scoring).

1994 , Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, London: Minerva, page 21

I'm talking about everybody getting crunk, crunk / Boys tryin' to touch my junk, junk / Gonna smack him if he getting too drunk, drunk

2009, “Tik Tok”, performed by Kesha

But what to do about a kid who flashes his privates at your child? And worse, how do you make sure your kid does not reciprocate? That's exactly the dilemma one mom faced when she learned that her 5-year-old neighbor had flashed his "junk" at her two sons and then made them swear not to tell.

2019 April 18, Genny Glassman, “Parent Torn After Discovering 5-Year-Old Neighbor 'Flashed' Kids & Told Them to Keep It a Secret”, in CafeMom‎

Got a spot on the voice, I'm a neo punk / Old ladies cum when I flash my junk

2023, “Neo Punk”, in Every Loser, performed by Iggy Pop

My physician has ordered me three pounds of minced salt-junk at every meal .

c. 1851-1852, James Russell Lowell, Leaves from My Journal in Italy and Elsewhere

Dear Uncle Sam pervides fer his, An' gives a good-sized junk to all

1846-1848, James Russell Lowell, The Biglow Papers

Then he lay quiet for a little, and then, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid.“Cut me a junk o’ that,” says he, “for I haven’t no knife and hardly strength enough, so be as I had. […] ”

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883