castoff
[ kast-awf, -of, kahst- ]
/ ˈkæstˌɔf, -ˌɒf, ˈkɑst- /
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adjective
thrown away; rejected; discarded: castoff clothing.
noun
a person or thing that has been cast off.
Printing. the estimate by a compositor of how many pages copy will occupy when set in type.
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Origin of castoff
First recorded in 1735–45; adj., noun use of verb phrase cast off
Words nearby castoff
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for castoff
British Dictionary definitions for castoff
cast-off
adjective
(prenominal) thrown away; abandonedcast-off shoes
noun castoff
a person or thing that has been discarded or abandoned
printing an estimate of the amount of space that a piece of copy will occupy when printed in a particular size and style of type
verb cast off (adverb)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with castoff
cast off
Discard, reject, as in He cast off his clothes and jumped in the pool. This term was already used figuratively in Miles Coverdale's translation of the Bible (1535): “Thy mother ... that hath cast off her housebonds and her children” (Ezekiel 16:45).
Let go, set loose, as in He cast off the line and the boat drifted from the dock. [Second half of 1600s]
In knitting, to finish the last row of stitches, that is, take the stitches off the needle and form a selvage. For example, Your sweater is finished; I just have to cast off. [Late 1800s] Also see cast on, def. 1.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.