I. də̇ˈskärd, ˈdiˌs-, -kȧd verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: dis- (I) + card (n.)
transitive verb
1.
a. : to remove (a playing card) from one's hand to prepare for drawing or to reduce the hand to the number specified
b. : to play (any card except a trump) from a suit different from the one led
2. : to drop, dismiss, let go, or get rid of as no longer useful, valuable, or pleasurable
a butterfly who has discarded his chrysalis — A.T.Quiller-Couch
on reaching Vancouver he had … discarded his lightweight suits — V.G.Heiser
the painful process of discarding cherished illusions — Laurence Binyon
intransitive verb
: to discard a playing card
Synonyms:
shed , slough , cast , molt , scrap , junk : discard indicates dispensing with, letting go of, getting rid of, as not immediately useful; it is not a forceful word and may connote only the mild action of getting rid of a playing card from one's hand
he sorted and re-sorted his cargo, always finding a more necessary article for which a less necessary had to be discarded — Willa Cather
the song appeared in a draft of the play's first act, and was later discarded from the revised versions — H.V.Gregory
modern research, which discards obsolete hypotheses — W.R.Inge
shed , slough , cast , and molt may all suggest an animal's discarding an old skin or integument. shed suggests divesting oneself or letting go of something outworn, rough or callow, or burdensome
some words shedding old meanings and acquiring new ones — Times Literary Supplement
as he mellowed, he shed such vulgarity — Times Literary Supplement
though statesmen may try to shed their responsibility — J.A.Hobson
slough suggests the throwing off of the deleterious, objectionable, or disadvantageous
in the face of death Sonya seemed transformed, sloughing off all earthly dross — E.J.Simmons
as though her gaunt and worldly air had been only a mockery she began to slough it off — Louis Bromfield
cast may be more forceful in its suggestion and imply rejection and repudiation
an Englishman like the Ethiopian cannot change his skin any more than a leopard can cast off his spots — Stuart Cloete
the Mexican Revolution of 1820 cast off the shackles of Spanish mercantilism — R.A.Billington
molt may imply casting off of feathers, skin, or other covering, especially during a period of difficulty or transition
the belief that social change can be effected without revolution or unpleasantness, that society can molt its outer covering and become new in shape and spirit — J.D.Hart
scrap and junk suggest discarding as worthless in existent form or operation, as an automobile or a ship is scrapped or junked. scrap is milder and less summary and final in its suggestion
most modern literary theory would be inclined to scrap the prose-poetry distinction — René Wellek & Austin Warren
the idea of scrapping our two military academies or drastically altering them — C.T.Lanham
junk is a more forthright term, more drastic in indicating a demonstrated lack of serviceability, validity, or worth
the South has never been able to understand how the North, in its astonishing quest for perfection, can junk an entire system of ideas almost overnight — Donald Davidson
II. ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ sometimes ̷ ̷ˈ ̷ ̷ noun
1. card games : the act of discarding ; also : the card or cards discarded
2. : a person or thing cast off: as
a. : a person that is cast off or rejected by society : one that is economically or socially degraded or abased
the West had been the land of new hope … for the discards of industrialism — F.L.Allen
finds his characteristic hero and characteristic story among the discards of society — R.P.Warren
b. : the rejected top portion of an ingot
c. : a book or other publication officially withdrawn from a library collection as unfit for further use or as no longer needed
•
- into the discard