castoff
thrown away; rejected; discarded: Out of a few pieces of castoff clothing she made herself a presentable new outfit.
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.
Printing. the estimate by a compositor of how many pages copy will occupy when set in type.
to reject or discard: He soon cast off the shackles of his repressive upbringing.
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.
Textiles. to make (the final stitches) in a piece of knitting and remove them from the needle.
Printing. to determine how much space or type will be occupied by (a given amount of text).
to throw (a falcon) off from the fist to pursue game.
Origin of castoff
1Words Nearby castoff
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use castoff in a sentence
He found a castoff military uniform, he said, to use as a disguise when he walked the streets.
Controversially, some hikers even live out of these boxes, eating and using others’ castoffs in an effort to save cash.
I spent several days with his team at Nevada two years ago and came away amazed at the culture of a group of players outsiders would have considered castoffs.
NCAA’s transfer changes are good for athletes and challenging for coaches. Seems fair. | Jerry Brewer | April 16, 2021 | Washington PostThat creates a tough task for Kansas City’s battered offensive line, which is littered with backups and castoffs.
Take the Buccaneers and the points against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs | Neil Greenberg | February 4, 2021 | Washington PostPeople nurtured their starters as if they were particularly needy children, traded recipes for their castoff dough, and photographed the pillowy interiors and artfully slashed crusts like proud parents.
These 10 food trends were the distractions we needed in 2020 | Emily Heil | December 24, 2020 | Washington Post
The underdog franchise, then only five years old, was led by a bowlegged castoff named Johnny Unitas at quarterback.
New York City Is the Storied Football Capital of the USA | Ben Jacobs | January 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTA player comes on under the shadow, made up in the castoff mail of a court buck, a wellset man with a bass voice.
Ulysses | James JoyceThe child pointed to what appeared to be some ragged, castoff clothes left in the hole by the late occupant.
Selected Stories | Bret HarteBehold him, beneath the mass of stale and putrid slime, a castoff, friendless and penniless vagabond.
Treading the Narrow Way | R. E. BarrettDoubtless she would hail his wish—half a reform in itself—to castoff the outward signs of an accepted degradation.
What Will He Do With It, Complete | Edward Bulwer-LyttonSo he picked up some castoff feathers of the Peacocks and stuck them among his own black plumes.
The sop for Children | sop
British Dictionary definitions for cast-off
(prenominal) thrown away; abandoned: cast-off shoes
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
to remove (mooring lines) that hold (a vessel) to a dock
to knot (a row of stitches, esp the final row) in finishing off knitted or woven material
printing to estimate the amount of space that will be taken up by (a book, piece of copy, etc) when it is printed in a particular size and style of type
(intr) (in Scottish country dancing) to perform a progressive movement during which each partner of a couple dances separately behind one line of the set and then reunites with the other in their original position in the set or in a new position
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with castoff
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).
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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