throwaway

1 of 3

adjective

throw·​away ˈthrō-ə-ˌwā 

1

: designed to be thrown away : disposable

throwaway containers

2

: written or spoken (as in a play) in a low-key or unemphatic manner

throwaway lines

3

: nonchalant, casual

4

: marked by a tendency to discard things : overly wasteful

a throwaway society

throwaway

2 of 3

noun

1

: one that is or is designed to be thrown away: such as

a

: a free handbill or circular

b

: a line of dialogue (as in a play) de-emphasized by casual delivery

especially : a joke or witticism delivered casually

2

: something made or done without care or interest

3

: a child who has been forced to leave home or who has run away from indifferent or hostile parents

throw away

3 of 3

verb

threw away; thrown away; throwing away; throws away

transitive verb

1

a

: to get rid of as worthless or unnecessary

b

: discard sense 2b

2

a

: to use in a foolish or wasteful manner : squander

b

: to fail to take advantage of : waste

throw away an opportunity

3

: to make (something, such as a line in a play) unemphatic by casual delivery

Synonyms

Verb

• cashier
• cast (off)
• chuck
• deep-six
• discard
• ditch
• dump
• eighty-six
• 86
• exorcise
• exorcize
• fling (off or away)
• jettison
• junk
• lay by
• lose
• pitch
• reject
• scrap
• shed
• shuck (off)
• slough (off)
• sluff (off)
• throw out
• toss
• unload

Examples of throwaway in a Sentence

Verb

I should throw away that torn shirt.

if you buy a high-end computer, you'll just be throwing away money on a bunch of features you'll never use

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Reich also makes skillful use of the callback, in which a seemingly throwaway line is revisited and built on, sometimes multiple times. —Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2023

Even the seemingly throwaway dialogue in a dinner scene reinforces how society perceives women struggling to balance the unfair demands of family and career. —Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2023

Noun

On the last play of the drill, Love found Watson for a touchdown but safety P.J. Locke would’ve sacked him or at least forced a throwaway. —Nick Kosmider, The Athletic, 16 Aug. 2024

UConn finally pressured McCord into a couple of throwaways and forced Syracuse to punt, but the Huskies couldn’t get in rhythm on offense. —Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 23 Nov. 2024

Verb

Gerrard notes that the samples were incredibly unlikely to have been thrown away in geeral waste, and were probably destroyed in an autoclave as per usual lab protocol. —Jess Thomson, Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2024

The nearly 200-year-old residence is only a stone’s throw away from Brooklyn Heights’ popular restaurants and shops, as well as The Promenade and Brooklyn Bridge Park. —Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1886, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

throwaway

1 of 3 noun

throw·​away ˈthrō-ə-ˌwā 

: something that is or is designed to be thrown away especially after one use

throwaway

2 of 3 adjective

throw·​away

ˌthrō-ə-ˌwā

: designed to be thrown away : disposable

throwaway cans and bottles

throw away

3 of 3 verb

ˌthrō-ə-ˈwā

1

: to get rid of : discard

threw the old ones away

2

: squander, waste

careful not to throw money away