discards

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of discard.

   The dealer discards the top card before dealing the next hand.

   Whenever the file grows too large, the program discards the oldest records.

   Note

   Here discards agrees with a single subject: the dealer discards, the program discards. The verb works two ways. As a transitive verb it takes an object (she discards the old records). In card games it can also stand alone, so a player simply discards. A third use concerns people: a patron who discards a favorite dismisses them from employment, confidence or favor.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of discard.

   Players draw from the deck and add their unwanted cards to the discards.

   The factory recycles its fabric discards into stuffing for cushions.

   Note

   Behind this plural stand three kinds of castoff: anything rejected, the cards a player throws out, and, in programming, a placeholder that receives a value nobody needs and can never be read again. At the card table it usually takes the, as in the discards, naming the pile itself. The same spelling also serves as the verb's he-or-she form, so the discards and she discards are different words.

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