castoff
Americanadjective
noun
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a person or thing that has been thrown away or rejected.
I refuse to accept second hand merchandise—some other person's castoffs.
Many immigrants felt like castoffs, marginalized by national and global economic forces.
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Printing. the estimate by a compositor of how many pages copy will occupy when set in type.
verb phrase
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to reject or discard.
He soon cast off the shackles of his repressive upbringing.
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to let go or let loose, as a vessel or its ropes from a mooring; set sail or begin a voyage.
We were about to cast off on a three-day cruise along the coast of British Columbia.
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Textiles. to make (the final stitches) in a piece of knitting and remove them from the needle.
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Printing. to determine how much space or type will be occupied by (a given amount of text).
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Like leaves on an oak tree, antlers are cast off and then regrown every year.
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to throw (a falcon) off from the fist to pursue game.
Etymology
Origin of castoff
First recorded in 1735–45; adjective, noun use of verb phrase cast off
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
How Pizza Hut fell from stuffed-crust glory to corporate castoff.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
The Seahawks traded their starting quarterback to another franchise that was desperate for one and turned to someone else’s castoff to replace him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
He was brought here by Ned Colletti before the 2014 season as a New York Mets castoff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2024
Perhaps that fictitious fish and its castoff fate from half a century ago resonate so deeply in me today because I recently included a similar creature in my new novel, "The Suicide Museum."
From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2023
She rolled over the block of sugar maple, a castoff from someone’s construction project, and it became her perch whenever she had a spare moment.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
