discardverb/dɪsˈkɑːd/

• 1

  To throw away, to reject.

  • A man discards the follies of boyhood.
  • 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

  card-gamesgamesTo 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.

discardnoun/ˈdɪskɑːd/

• 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."
• 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.
• 4

  computingengineeringmathematicsA 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.