Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Something designed or likely to be discarded after use, as a free handbill distributed on the street.
- noun A child or teenager who has been rejected, ejected, or abandoned by parents or guardians and lives on the streets.
- adjective Designed or intended to be discarded after use.
- adjective Readily discarding things.
- adjective Having been rejected, ejected, or abandoned by parents or guardians.
- adjective Written or delivered in a low-key or offhand manner.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb to discard.
- transitive verb to waste or squander.
- noun an advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution.
- noun words spoken in a casual way with conscious underemphasis.
- adjective designed to be discarded after a single use; disposable.
- adjective spoken with deliberate underemphasis.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Disposable ; intended for asingle use prior to beingdiscarded . - adjective
Extemporaneous ;off the cuff . - adjective Being intended for single use.
- adjective Selected or used without care or attention.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb get rid of
- verb throw or cast away
- noun words spoken in a casual way with conscious under-emphasis
- noun an advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution
- adjective intended to be thrown away after use
- noun (sometimes offensive) a homeless boy who has been abandoned and roams the streets
- adjective thrown away
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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MOOS: The only trick he'd teach us is what he called a throwaway, the disappearing coin.
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The American nailed his first qualifying run in the men's halfpipe with 45.8 points on Wednesday, the highest score of his heat, but caught a rut on his second and got low marks in what he described as a throwaway run.
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As long as people purchase food and beverages in throwaway containers, they are supporting an unsustainable business and practicing an unsustainable lifestyle.
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The last point, almost but not quite a throwaway, is that success breeds success.
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She considered the song a "throwaway" -- one of many topical songs written for a particular political cause at a particular moment in time.
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a sharp mesmeric intelligence which she uses to shock with subtlety, in throwaway detail and quiet changes of direction.
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a sharp mesmeric intelligence which she uses to shock with subtlety, in throwaway detail and quiet changes of direction.
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a sharp mesmeric intelligence which she uses to shock with subtlety, in throwaway detail and quiet changes of direction.
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I tend not to read too much into a one word throwaway; for my taste, Matt seems to mostly be making mountains out of molehills (like he did with Steele earlier today — what is it about today for him?).
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This is the part of the field where you will see what are called throwaway plays, which are deep throws to the end zone or a trick play like a reverse or double pass.
qroqqa commented on the word throwaway
Most people won't be surprised to learn that they also seek to shape what is published in journals through ghost-written essays signed by prestigious doctors, or attempt to influence prescribers' opinions through widely distributed "throwaways", a euphemism for journal articles that support their products.
—New Scientist, 6 June 2009
June 8, 2009