discard

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To throw away, to reject.
   • A man discards the follies of boyhood.1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC
   • 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...2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, pages 67–68

   Synonyms:

   cast aside, cast away, dismiss, jettison, dispose of, eliminate, get rid of, throw aside, throw away, throw down

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

   Synonyms:

   fire, let go, sack, axe, can, decruit, dehire, remove, discharge, dismiss

Noun

UK/ˈdɪskɑːd/US/ˈdɪskɑɹd/

discard (plural discards)

1. Anything discarded.
2. One or more discarded playing cards in a card game.
   • "Stroll across and see how the game is going," suggested Carrados. "Have a look at Crediton's discard and then come back."1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
3. The act of discarding.
   • Spinola was hovering about the external fittings of the figure with unusual fussiness. When at length he released the left hand it seemed for an almost perceptible moment that the action hung. Then the arm descended and carried out the discard.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
4. A temporary variable used to receive a value of no importance and unable to be read later.
   • Discards can be used with out parameters, with tuples, with pattern matching (Chapters 6 and 8), or even as stand-alone variables.2017, Andrew Troelsen, Philip Japikse, Pro C# 7: With .NET and .NET Core, page 120