castoff

[ kast-awf, -of ]

adjective

1. thrown away; rejected; discarded:

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

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of castoff¹

First recorded in 1735–45; adjective, noun use of verb phrase cast off

Example Sentences

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

He was brought here by Ned Colletti before the 2014 season as a New York Mets castoff.

From Los Angeles Times

Frustrated with fast fashion’s toxic pollution of the Global South and Los Angeles’ massive apparel industry, they vowed to start Other Lives, which would breathe fresh life into castoff clothing by facilitating revelatory workshops including metalwork and fabric painting.

From Los Angeles Times

At the 2023 Seattle Art Fair, her 25-foot-tall castoff wire puppets were showstoppers amid the clean white booths.

From Seattle Times

Phillips, now 29, transformed himself from castoff to closer, going 10-8 with a 1.74 ERA and 26 saves in 133 games over his first two-plus seasons with the Dodgers and moving from a setup role in 2022 to a ninth-inning role in 2023.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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