discardn.
/ˈdɪskɑːd/, U.S. /ˈdɪsˌkɑrd/ 1.
a. The action or an act of discarding; rejection, abandoning.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [noun] > rejection or non-acceptance
renunciation1418
rejectinga1425
reprobationa1425
rejectiona1464
abjection?1529
refute1535
abdication1552
abnegation1554
abrenunciation1557
recusancy1563
repudy1575
offcasting?1591
rejectment1599
defiancea1616
canvass1621
non-acceptation1622
repudiation1640
disacceptance1642
non-acceptance1647
disowning1656
discard1663
disownment1806
unacceptance1865
ding1949
negging1996
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > [noun] > sending away or dismissing
dimission1530
dismiss1589
recoilmenta1608
dismission1608
discharge1616
dismissmenta1626
cashiering1629
avoidance1633
sending1748
discard1787
dismissala1806
demission1811
turn-away1858
the mind > possession > relinquishing > casting or laying aside > [noun]
everting1568
deposition1577
discarding1600
excussion1607
dispatch1608
reposition1617
absolution1655
depositing1667
discardment1713
discardurea1762
cashiering1826
dropping1859
discard1906
junking1911
shedding1945
load-shedding1947
1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus xxvi. 347 All Perjury and unjust Dealing proceeds from a Departure, and Discard of Moderation and Contentment with the Condition God has designed men to bear.
1787 L. L. Orr Jrnl. Young Lady Virginia (1871) 29 Nancy had an admirer lately... He got his discard yesterday.
1856 A. Kennerly Heiress Fotheringay viii. 59 The germ of philanthropy is the discard of self, in the promotion of the happiness of others.
1873 Amer. Jrnl. Syphilography & Dermatol. 4 182 Under certain circumstances it permits the discard of the use of injection.
1906 Daily Chron. 29 Sept. 5/4 ‘The Chief's’ sudden discard of South Africa and adoption of Protection under the name of Tariff Reform.
1947 Sewage Wks. Jrnl. 19 823/2 Field survey work and organization to provide better control over the loss or discard of waste materials.
2006 Libr. Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 Apr. 61 When making discard decisions, it is easier to say which things might deserve a second look rather than try to say what is obsolete or expendable.
b. Anything discarded, rejected, or unwanted. Also as a mass noun.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [noun] > rejection or non-acceptance > that which is rejected or refused
offcasta1387
rejected1593
refusal1618
discarding1731
refused1740
return1749
throwaway1870
discard1888
1888 R. L. Stevenson in Scribner's Mag. Apr. 511/1 In the brothel, the discard of society.
1909 Monthly Consular & Trade Rep. (U.S. Dept. Commerce & Labor) Jan. 93 The lemons used for manufacturing purposes are..the discard from the sortings in the gardens and in the storehouses.
1926 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 113 76 The charts show the results of the analyses..throughout the section of the ingot, after the removal of the top and bottom end discards.
1967 Times Rev. Industry Aug. 36/1 Using the discard of coal preparation plants to make lightweight concrete or building blocks.
1990 Texas Highways Mar. 30/3 After sunset, you may hear raccoons rustling through the discards of the evening meal at your campsite.
2. Cards.
a. The action or an act of rejecting or throwing out a card or cards from the hand. Cf. discard v. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > [noun] > actions or tactics > specific
discarding1592
facing1635
pull1715
lead1742
return1742
discard1778
solo1814
underplay1850
convention1862
force1862
showdown1870
unblocking1885
false-carding1923
passed hand1924
exit1934
reverse1936
loser-on-loser1947
1719 R. Seymour Court Gamester 7 You are to say, Spades are Trumps, and make your Discard accordingly.
1778 T. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved 119 In order to capot the Elder-hand, you are to make a deep Discard, such as the Queen, Ten, and Eight of a Suit.
1878 H. H. Gibbs Game of Ombre (ed. 2) 38 Solo is an engagement on the part of the Ombre to win the game without discard.
1885 R. A. Proctor How to play Whist 96 You cannot readily echo, as you can signal, by the discard.
1905 Hoyle's Games (rev. ed.) 203 The art in Coon Can..lies in the discard and in putting the cards..at the proper time on the table.
1953 G. Heyer Cotillion iv. 58 Lord Biddenden..made his discards almost at random, and yawned over the totting up of points.
2007 New Yorker 17 Sept. 90/2 An obscure offensive tactic whereby a player..forces an opponent to make a certain kind of self-defeating discard.
b. The card or cards so rejected; the pile of such cards formed in the course of a game. Cf. discard pile n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > casting or laying aside > [noun] > one who or that which is
waif1624
discard1719
discarding1731
cast-off1740
cast-by1818
left-off1865
sloppy seconds1973
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [noun] > pile of cards unable to be played
discard1719
waste-heap1873
discard pile1884
1719 R. Seymour Court Gamester 14 Laying his Discard at his Left-Hand, where the Pack lay before, he places the remainder in the middle of the table.
1719 R. Seymour Court Gamester 21 If the Stock is still upon the Board, he may take a Card; if they are all taken in, he must draw one by Chance out of the Discard.
1744 E. Hoyle Short Treat. Game Piquet vii. 49 After he has discarded, he cannot alter his Discard.
1878 H. H. Gibbs Game of Ombre (ed. 2) 22 Having placed his discard on the pool dish, he takes from the Stock a number equal to his discard.
1894 Logansport (Indiana) Pharos-Tribune 16 June 2/4 He held the cards by the corner and made an involuntary motion as if to throw them into the discard.
1912 C. E. Mulford & J. W. Clay Buck Peters, Ranchman iii. 63 ‘They're good,’ said Dave shortly, dropping his hand [of cards] into the discard.
1968 J. Rubens Win at Poker App. 204 This rule is meaningless and may cause confusion when a short pack (required by a reshuffle of discards..) is being dealt.
2001 Times 22 Jan. (Features section) 26/2 His choice of discard was the ten of hearts—an encouraging signal.
Phrases
figurative. Chiefly U.S. to go into the discard (and variants): to be abandoned, rejected, or consigned to oblivion. Cf. sense 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (transitive)] > abandon, renounce, or refuse to acknowledge
shrivec1374
disavowc1400
reject1426
renouncec1450
disvow1502
disavouch1583
disclaim1585
to throw (also cast, fling, etc.) overboard1588
disacknowledge1598
forjure1601
disknow1606
disvoucha1616
to swear off1839
to throw down1895
to go into the discard1898
ditch1921
cancel1990
the mind > mental capacity > memory > faulty recollection > deliberate forgetting, condoning > [verb (transitive)] > consign to oblivion
defacec1386
to strike by1457
efface1490
unlearna1500
obliterate1548
delete1563
oblivionize1593
dismiss1594
bury1595
oblivion1659
obliviate1661
erase1695
to go into the discard1927
cancel1990
1898 Sioux County (Orange City, Iowa) Herald 26 Oct. 3/5 They wear no clothes, except what they have on, an' each woman has five husbands an' each man has five wives. Th' r-rest goes into the discard.
1927 H. E. Fosdick Pilgrimage to Palestine 260 One surely does not mean to sweep into the discard as spiritually futile the elaborate symbolism of Eastern worship.
1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revol. ii. 27 The old concept of economic man has gone into the discard.
1995 Guardian (Nexis) 16 June (Features section) t5 The subliminal link..between Dunkirk and the Iron Curtain, was just too useful to be thrown into the discard.
Compounds
discard pile n. (a) a pile of playing cards rejected or thrown out from players' hands in the course of a card game; (b) (figurative and in extended use) a collection of rejected or unwanted things; cf. to go into the discard at Phrases.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [noun] > pile of cards unable to be played
discard1719
waste-heap1873
discard pile1884
1884 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Sentinel 24 Feb. 10/6 The three remaining cards are heaped into the discard pile.
1945 Amer. Antiq. 11 13/2 Once-cherished theories still have a habit of ending in the discard pile.
1991 A. Bennett Forty Years On & Other Plays (new ed.) Introd. 7 I'm thankful now that the BBC put this first script on the discard pile, thus forcing me to rewrite it in the version eventually produced on the stage.
2009 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 16 Nov. 12 The inmates..toss their unwanted cards into the discard pile.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
discardv.
/dɪˈskɑːd/, U.S. /dəˈskɑrd/ 1. † b. transitive. To cast or take (a thing) away from another person by force. Obsolete. rare.
a. transitive. To reject as being no longer wanted or needed; to cast aside, get rid of; to abandon.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > relinquishing > casting or laying aside > [verb (transitive)]
to let awaya1000
forcast?c1225
to lay downc1275
forthrow1340
flita1375
removea1382
to cast away1382
understrewc1384
castc1390
to lay awaya1400
to lay asidec1440
slingc1440
warpiss1444
to lay from, offc1480
way-put1496
depose1526
to lay apart1526
to put off1526
to set apart1530
to turn up1541
abandonate?1561
devest1566
dispatch1569
decarta1572
discard1578
to make away1580
to fling away1587
to cast off1597
doff1599
cashier1603
to set by1603
moult1604
excuss1607
retorta1616
divest1639
deposit1646
disentail1667
dismiss1675
slough1845
shed1856
jettison1869
shake1872
offload1900
junk1911
dump1919
sluff1934
bin1940
to put down1944
shitcan1973
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (transitive)] > reject
awarpc1000
forwerpeOE
warpc1000
nillOE
warnc1300
reprovec1350
to put abacka1382
to throw awaya1382
repugnc1384
to put awaya1387
waivec1386
forshoota1400
disavowc1400
defyc1405
disprovec1430
repelc1443
flemea1450
to put backa1500
reject?1504
refutea1513
repulse1533
refel1548
repudiate1548
disallowa1555
project?1567
expel1575
discard1578
overrule1578
forsay1579
check1601
decard1605
dismiss1608
reprobate1609
devow1610
retorta1616
disclaimc1626
noforsootha1644
respuate1657
reluctate1668
negative1778
no-ball1862
basket1867
to set one's foot down1873
not to have any (of it, that, this)1895
to put down1944
eighty-six1959
neg1987
1578 T. P. Of Knowl. Warres i. xi. f. 24 Hee [sc. Lycurgus] dyscarded and expelled, Ianglers, Iesters, Iuglers, Puppetplayers, Pypers, and suche like vnprofitable persons.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1206 I was very much angry and offended that I was so discarded and left out.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 81 Sentiments of shame and honesty..are quite discarded by the Muscovites.
1712 J. Swift Proposal for Eng. Tongue 30 Many gross Improprieties, which however authorised by Practice..ought to be discarded.
1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind ii. §6. 109 They discarded all secondary qualities of bodies.
1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 107 He had displeased his friends, and had been discarded in disgrace.
1856 B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. (ed. 3) I. i. 25 We have..discarded our faith in astrology and witches.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 200 It is generally so warm that the miners are glad to discard most of their clothing.
1913 R. Hodder Vampire viii. 43 The wehrwolf who discards his human form to bury his fangs in the throats of sleeping children.
1974 E. Pollard et al. Hedges (1977) xi. 135 When field mice feed on a rose hip they discard the flesh, extract the seeds from the carpels and then also discard the opened carpels.
2011 Wall St. Jrnl. 8 Oct. d15/1 The option of discarding the Range Rover in favor of a bicycle doesn't seem that ridiculous.
ΚΠ
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. v. sig. Q He that helpe [sc. her shield] from her against her will discarded . View more context for this quotation
c. transitive. To rid or free (a person) of something. Frequently reflexive. Now rare. Cf. divest v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > get or be rid of > rid of something
cleansea1250
quita1387
unladea1398
deliverc1400
quiet1450
clear1535
discussa1542
free1590
unload1591
unstable1612
deonerate1623
discard1656
1656 S. Holland Don Zara ii. iv. 104 The more peacefull Souls [are] discarded of their Anxieties.
1707 W. Darrell Gentleman Instructed: 2nd Pt. 119 I only discard my self of those Things that are noxious to my Body, and scandalous to my Nature.
a1721 W. Darrell Moral Refl. Select Passages New Test. (1736) II. 289 His pride discarded him of all right to happiness, and plunged him into eternal misery.
1927 Morwell (Victoria, Austral.) Advertiser & Gaz. 11 Mar. Smith quickly..discarded himself of most of his clothing, and made a second attempt to rescue his drowning boy pal.
1993 Daily Mail (Nexis) 18 Mar. 59 So had he [sc. a horse] finally discarded himself of the equine white feather?
a. transitive. To dismiss or discharge from employment, service, etc.; to deprive of an office or post. Also with of, from. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > lack of work > [verb (transitive)] > dismiss or discharge
to put awaya1387
discharge1428
dismiss1477
to put out of wages1542
discard1589
to turn away1602
to put off1608
disemploy1619
to pay off1648
to pay off1651
to turn out1667
to turn off1676
quietus1688
strip1756
trundle1794
unshop1839
shopc1840
to lay off1841
sack1841
drop1845
to give (a person) the shoot1846
bag1848
swap1862
fire1879
to knock off1881
bounce1884
to give (a person) the pushc1886
to give (a person) the boot or the order of the boot1888
bump1899
spear1911
to strike (a medical practitioner, etc.) off the register1911
terminate1920
tramp1941
shitcan1961
pink slip1966
dehire1970
resize1975
to give a person his jotters1990
1589 R. Greene Ciceronis Amor 47 I will discarde you from the office of Paris as a man partiall.
1593 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia 142 These men..were discarded by that unworthy prince, as not worthy the holding.
1619 Helpe to Discourse 77 The Pope..discarded him of his Bishoprick (as it was a wonder) and placed another in his house.
1688 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 472 A soldier haveing spoken base words..was whipt, and the next day..dis-carded.
1712 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 9 Jan. (1948) II. 461 My man..is a sad dog; and the minute I come to Ireland I will discard him.
1751 W. Blennerhassett New Hist. Eng. I. 404 The King afterwards discarded his Prime Minister, to the Satisfaction of his Subjects, and Tranquillity was restored.
1858 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) II. viii. 573 Having discarded the able advisers of his father, he conferred the highest posts upon men as narrow and incompetent as himself.
b. transitive. To dismiss or banish (a person) from (a place). Obsolete.In early use with direct and indirect object; later with from.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [verb (transitive)] > send away or dismiss > peremptorily > from a place or person
exilec1400
confine1577
discard1652
sin-bin1983
1652 W. Brough Sacred Princ. (ed. 2) 66 Lest I be Disgraced and Discarded Thy Palace and Presence for ever.
1670 I. Walton Life J. Donne 48 in Lives A Person of Nobility..was at this very time discarded the Court, and justly committed to prison.
1745 D. Fordyce Dialogues conc. Educ. II. xv. 216 I would try..threatning to discard their Comrades from the House.
1750 Student 1 No. 3. 86 They all complained of an impertinent speech Downing had made in parliament..which they thought his Majesty should resent so as to discard him from court.
1824 C. M. Sedgwick Redwood III. xxvi. 240 My grandfather discarded his son from his home and his affections.
3. intransitive and transitive. Cards. To throw out or reject a card from a hand. In whist and similar games, applied to the action of playing a card from one of the two remaining suits when not able to follow the lead and not trumping.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > play a card [verb (transitive)] > actions or tactics
to hold up?1499
decardc1555
to turn up1580
discard1591
pulla1625
to sit out1659
face1674
to make out1680
to lay out1687
to throw away1707
lead1739
weaken1742
carry1744
to take in1744
force1746
to show down1768
throw1866
blank1884
block1884
cover1885
unblock1885
pitch1890
1591 J. Florio Second Frutes 69 Let vs agree of our game..goe to, discarde.
1652 J. Skeffington tr. B. Gracián y Morales Heroe of Lorenzo x. 86 At this game of triumph or (as we call it) trump, let him so take and discard his cards that he may be sure or win.
1674 C. Cotton Compl. Gamester viii. 97 By discarding the eights, nines and tens, there will remain thirteen Cards.
1719 R. Seymour Court Gamester 47 It may be of some Use to teach Beginners how to Discard and play the Cards.
1744 E. Hoyle Short Treat. Game Piquet vii. 49 After he has discarded, he cannot alter his Discard.
1816 S. W. Singer Researches Hist. Playing Cards 238 The player..discards three inferior cards.
1862 ‘Cavendish’ Princ. Whist (1879) 93 You weaken a suit by discarding from it.
1917 A. S. Neill Dominie Dismissed xi. 134 I hate cards; I can't concentrate at all, and I never have the faintest idea what the man on my left has discarded.
1939 N. de V. Hart Bridge Players' Bedside Bk. xi. 54 A player..deliberately creates in the mind of an opponent the illusion that it is safe to discard from a certain suit and fatal to discard from another.
2010 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 18 Aug. c5/8 When East plays a low heart, declarer discards his diamond queen.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1663
v.1578