castoff

American  

[kast-awf, -of] / ˈkæstˌɔf, -ˌɒf /

adjective

1. thrown away; rejected; discarded.

   Out of a few pieces of castoff clothing she made herself a presentable new outfit.

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noun

1. 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.

2. Printing. the estimate by a compositor of how many pages copy will occupy when set in type.

verb phrase

1. to reject or discard.

   He soon cast off the shackles of his repressive upbringing.

2. 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.

3. Textiles. to make (the final stitches) in a piece of knitting and remove them from the needle.

4. Printing. to determine how much space or type will be occupied by (a given amount of text).

5. to shed or cast.

   Like leaves on an oak tree, antlers are cast off and then regrown every year.

6. 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

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

Zach McKinstry, IF/OF, Tigers: Another Dodgers castoff finding a home in Detroit is McKinstry, who has played shortstop, third base, second base and two outfield positions this season.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 3, 2024

Cattrall is currently co-starring in "Glamorous," a CW castoff snapped up by Netflix in which she plays cosmetics mogul and former model Madolyn Addison.

From Salon • Jul. 2, 2023

The quarterback was an elderly castoff from Dallas.

From Washington Post • Jan. 27, 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

Related Words

• chunk
• fragment
• grain
• hunk
• lump
• morsel
• shred
• sliver
• snippet
• speck