discard

English

Etymology

From dis- +‎ card. Compare Spanish descartar.

Pronunciation

• (verb)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈkɑːd/, /dɪˈskɑːd/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • (US) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈkɑɹd/, /dɪˈskɑɹd/
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)d
• (noun)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪskɑːd/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪskɑɹd/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Verb

discard (third-person singular simple present discards, present participle discarding, simple past and past participle discarded)

1. (transitive) To throw away, to reject.

   Synonyms: cast aside, cast away, dismiss, dispose of, eliminate, get rid of, throw aside, throw away, throw down; see also Thesaurus:junk

   • 1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC:

     A man discards the follies of boyhood.

   • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, pages 67–68:

     My next stop is Oxford, which has also grown with the addition of new platforms to accommodate the Chiltern Railways service to London via Bicester - although, short sightedly, the planned electrification from Paddington was canned. Evidence of the volte-face can be seen along the line at places such as Radley, where mast piles are already sunk or lie discarded at the lineside.

2. (intransitive, card games) To make a discard; to throw out a card.
3. To dismiss from employment, confidence, or favour; to discharge.

   Synonyms: fire, let go, sack; see also Thesaurus:lay off

   • 1711 December 8 (Gregorian calendar), [Jonathan Swift], The Conduct of the Allies, and of the Late Ministry, in Beginning and Carrying on the Present War, 4th edition, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1711, →OCLC, page 65:

     […] They blame the Favourites in point of Policy, and think it nothing extraordinary, that the Queen ſhould be at an end of Her Patience, and reſolve to diſcard them.

Translations

to discard, set aside — see remove

to throw away, reject

• Afrikaans: weggooi
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: baztertu
• Bulgarian: захвърлям (bg) (zahvǎrljam), изхвърлям (bg) (izhvǎrljam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 丟棄／丢弃 (zh) (diūqì), 拋棄／抛弃 (zh) (pāoqì)

• Czech: odhodit
• Danish: kassere
• Dutch: verwerpen (nl), afdanken (nl), afleggen (nl), opzijzetten (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: hylätä (fi), heittää menemään (fi), heittää pois, hävittää (fi)
• French: rejeter (fr), écarter (fr)
• Galician: desbotar, refugar, rexeitar (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: verwerfen (de)
• Greek: απορρίπτω (el) (aporrípto), παραμερίζω (el) (paramerízo), ανατινάζω (el) (anatinázo)

  Ancient: ἀποβάλλω (apobállō)

• Hungarian: elvet (hu)
• Japanese: 捨てる (ja) (すてる, suteru), 棄てる (ja) (すてる, suteru)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 버리다 (ko) (beorida)
• Lao: ເຂັ່ຍ (khia), ເຂັ່ຽ (khīa)
• Latin: rejiciō, abicio (la)
• Macedonian: фр́ли (fŕli), о́тфрли (ótfrli), и́сфрли (ísfrli), о́дбие (ódbie), о́тстрани (ótstrani)
• Malayalam: ഉപേക്ഷിക്കുക (ml) (upēkṣikkuka)
• Maori: whakarei, ākiri, paetau, hoehoe, ruke
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: zrzucić (pl)
• Portuguese: descartar (pt)
• Romanian: arunca (ro)
• Russian: отбра́сывать (ru) impf (otbrásyvatʹ), отбро́сить (ru) pf (otbrósitʹ), выбра́сывать (ru) impf (vybrásyvatʹ), вы́бросить (ru) (výbrositʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: odbiti (sh) pf, odbijati (sh) impf
• Slovak: odhodiť, zahodiť, vyhodiť
• Slovene: zavreči
• Sotho: lahla
• Spanish: desechar (es), descartar (es)
• Swedish: kasta (sv), avfärda (sv), slänga (sv)
• Telugu: నిరాకరించు (te) (nirākariñcu)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: відкидати (vidkydaty), відмовлятися (vidmovljatysja)
• Vietnamese: vứt (vi), loại bỏ (vi)

to throw out a playing card

• Bulgarian: чистя (bg) (čistja)
• Finnish: siirtää sivuun, heittää pois (fi); polttaa (fi) (in poker)
• French: défausser (fr)
• Galician: descartar
• German: abwerfen (de), ablegen (de)
• Greek: πετώ (el) (petó)
• Mongolian: модоо хаях (modoo xajax)

Noun

discard (plural discards)

1. Anything discarded.
2. A discarded playing card in a card game.
3. (programming) A temporary variable used to receive a value of no importance and unable to be read later.
   • 2017, Andrew Troelsen, Philip Japikse, Pro C# 7: With .NET and .NET Core, page 120:

     Discards can be used with out parameters, with tuples, with pattern matching (Chapters 6 and 8), or even as stand-alone variables.

Translations

anything discarded

• Bulgarian: захвърляне (bg) n (zahvǎrljane), изоставяне (bg) n (izostavjane)
• Danish: kassation c
• Finnish: hylky (fi), hylkytavara (fi), jäte (fi)
• Galician: refugo m, refugallo (gl) m
• Japanese: 廃棄物 (ja) (はいきぶつ, haikibutsu)
• Macedonian: фр́лање n (fŕlanje), отфр́лање n (otfŕlanje), испу́штање n (ispúštanje)
• Russian: отхо́ды (ru) m pl (otxódy)
• Telugu: వదిలిన (vadilina)

discarded playing card

• Bulgarian: изчистена карта f (izčistena karta)
• Finnish: pois heitetty kortti
• Japanese: 捨て札 (すてふだ, sutefuda)
• Macedonian: отфр́лена ка́рта f (otfŕlena kárta)
• Russian: сбро́шенная ка́рта f (sbróšennaja kárta)
• Telugu: పారవేసిన పేక ముక్క (pāravēsina pēka mukka)

Further reading

• “discard”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “discard”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• ID cards