Dive Brief:

• Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary updated its 11th edition, adding a slew of new words to its online database. The dictionary added 150 words this year. 
• "E-waste" and "freegan" made the cut, reports HazMat Management. E-waste is defined as "waste consisting of discarded electronic products (as computers, televisions, and cell phones)." The word was first used in 2004. "Freegan" is defined as "one who scavenges for free food in store and restaurant trash bins as a way to reduce the consumption of resources."
• Other inductees include some environmental terms, including fracking and cap-and-trade, which is "a system that limits the amount of carbon emissions companies can produce but allows them to buy extra emissions from others."

Dive Insight:

According to the Merriam-Webster website, new words are selected for inclusion annually, based on usage. Editors monitor particular words and choose words that are used frequently in a large number of diverse publications. The most popular choices are marked for inclusion into the updated edition.

Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and editor at large for Merriam-Webster, told the Associated Press that freegan is a "young word, from 2006. This kind of environmentalism was a Lone Ranger type of activity before but has taken off." With the launch of a new food app Ratatouille, finding food just got a little easier for freegans: The app allows people within close proximity of each other to meet up and donate leftover food to someone who wants it instead of throwing it away. Freegans could use the app to simplify their search for food instead of raiding trash bins.