cast away
Idioms-
Also, cast aside . Discard, reject, as in He picked a book, then cast it aside , or She cast away all thoughts of returning home . [Early 1400s]
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Squander, waste, as in She cast away a fortune on jewelry . Shakespeare used this idiom in King John (2:1): “France, hast thou yet more blood to cast away?” [Early 1500s]
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.
It’s nice to know that there are still corners of the internet bright enough to cast away the darkness that often feels suffocating.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2026
COSTNER: When they weren’t useful, they were just cast away.
From Seattle Times ● May 19, 2024
It’s an issue of confidence, with Emily Mann directing her cast away from Williams’s assured dialogue and toward their characters’ flailing.
From New York Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
Why did that song survive when other ones got cast away?
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2022
The reader suddenly sat up, cast away the paper, displaying a flushed countenance, and with a funny mixture of solemnity and excitement replied in a loud voice, “Your sister.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
