cast-off

1 of 2

adjective

: thrown away or aside
castoff noun

cast off

2 of 2

verb

cast off; casting off; casts off

transitive verb

1
: loose
cast off a hunting dog
2
: unfasten
cast off a boat
3
: to remove (a stitch) from a knitting needle in such a way as to prevent unraveling

intransitive verb

1
: to unfasten or untie a boat or a line
2
: to turn one's partner in a square dance and pass around the outside of the set and back
3
: to finish a knitted fabric by casting off all stitches

Examples of cast-off in a Sentence

Verb once she became rich and didn't need them anymore, she cast off all her old friends like so much junk
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The latter is dressed in a court jester’s costume that looks like a cast-off from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Feb. 2024 My line went down and jerked — a bite on my first cast-off. Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2024 Thunderbolts, a Suicide Squad-like assembly of cast-off MCU villains? Paul Tassi, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 Sell-offs like these can be opportunities for other establishments — such as supermarkets, hospitals, or schools — to stock up on affordable wares, and can also help keep cast-off inventory out of landfills, Sherman said. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 28 Aug. 2023 The cast-off animals had been locked in dirty wire cages and left in a field on the ranch with no regular caregiver to give them food and water. Diane Bell, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2023 Shimmering in purple like a cherry blossom, the cast-off material once comprised the star’s outer layer. Marcia Dunn, Orlando Sentinel, 16 Mar. 2023
Verb
Around 25 million years ago, the apes split from the monkeys and cast off their tails. Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 4 Mar. 2024 Germany went on to cast off that moniker, partly by introducing labor market reforms, and its exports and economy boomed in the decade following the 2008 global financial crisis — fueled by cheap Russian gas and red-hot growth in China. Hanna Ziady, CNN, 10 Feb. 2024 It’s cast off in the sense that it’s allowed to float away. David Marchese Photo Illustration By Bráulio Amado, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2024 Even Morán and Román, determined to cast off conformity and live life on their own terms, have a hard time escaping what feel like immutable, existential laws. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2023 Covid, in short, created an opportunity for American society to cast off a tradition that few people enjoyed. David Leonhardt, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2024 So why aren’t banks jumping at the opportunity to cast off their mainframes and move to the cloud? Andrew Hudson, Ars Technica, 24 July 2023 Natasha was pretty much cast off her tape alone, which is quite rare. Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Dec. 2023 Barbados cast off the monarchy and became a republic in 2021. Amanda Coletta, Washington Post, 5 May 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cast-off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1613, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1575, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of cast-off was in 1575

Dictionary Entries Near cast-off

Cite this Entry

“Cast-off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cast-off. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

cast-off

adjective
ˈkas-ˌtȯf
: thrown away or aside
cast-off clothes
castoff noun

More from Merriam-Webster on cast-off

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