View synonyms for castoff

castoff

[ kast-awf, -of ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

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 shed or cast:
Like leaves on an oak tree, antlers are cast off and then regrown every year.
to throw (a falcon) off from the fist to pursue game.

Origin of castoff¹

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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