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

He found a castoff military uniform, he said, to use as a disguise when he walked the streets.

From Washington Post

Controversially, some hikers even live out of these boxes, eating and using others’ castoffs in an effort to save cash.

From Outside Online

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.

From Washington Post

That creates a tough task for Kansas City’s battered offensive line, which is littered with backups and castoffs.

From Washington Post

People 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.

From Washington Post

The underdog franchise, then only five years old, was led by a bowlegged castoff named Johnny Unitas at quarterback.

From The Daily Beast

A player comes on under the shadow, made up in the castoff mail of a court buck, a wellset man with a bass voice.

From Project Gutenberg

The child pointed to what appeared to be some ragged, castoff clothes left in the hole by the late occupant.

From Project Gutenberg

Behold him, beneath the mass of stale and putrid slime, a castoff, friendless and penniless vagabond.

From Project Gutenberg

Doubtless she would hail his wish—half a reform in itself—to castoff the outward signs of an accepted degradation.

From Project Gutenberg

So he picked up some castoff feathers of the Peacocks and stuck them among his own black plumes.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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