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discard

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To throw away, to reject.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dihskahrd

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dɪsˈkɑɹd

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To throw away, to reject.

  2. Throw or cast away

  3. intransitivecard games

    To make a discard; to throw out a card.

  4. To dismiss from employment, confidence, or favour; to discharge.

noun

  1. Anything that is cast aside or discarded

  2. A discarded playing card in a card game.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To throw away, to reject.

Used this way, discard is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • toss , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
  • toss away , rarer, so it draws attention
  • put away , more formal, and heavier in everyday conversation

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

discard pilesimply discard

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • toss

    To discard; to throw away.

  • toss out

    To throw away; to get rid of; to dispose of (something, especially food that has gone bad).

  • throw out

    To discard; to dispense with something; to throw away.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to throw away or to reject

tossInformalthrow outtoss awayRareflingArchaicput awayFormalthrow awaycast asidecast away

noun

Sense: anything that is cast aside or discarded

throw out

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.