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throw·away | \ ˈthrō-ə-ˌwā 
\
\Definition of throwaway
(Entry 1 of 3)
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
nounDefinition of throwaway (Entry 2 of 3)
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
verbthrew away; thrown away; throwing away; throws away
Definition of throw away (Entry 3 of 3)
1a : to get rid of as worthless or unnecessary
b : discard sense 2b
2a : 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
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Synonyms for throwaway
Synonyms: Verb
- cashier,
- cast (off),
- chuck,
- deep-six,
- discard,
- ditch,
- dump,
- eighty-six
- (or 86),
- exorcise
- (also exorcize),
- fling (off or away),
- jettison,
- junk,
- lay by,
- lose,
- pitch,
- reject,
- scrap,
- shed,
- shuck (off),
- slough (off)
- also 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 Can Wait, to name but a few — there's arguably too much emphasis on neat patterns, seemingly throwaway details that turn out to have major payoffs later on.
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Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Wander Darkly': Film Review | Sundance 2020," 5 Feb. 2020 The only allusion to romance between the two in the entire series was a throwaway moment in season one when Gideon gives Reid football tickets, and Reid asks JJ to go with him on what sounds awfully like a date.
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Jenny Hollander, Marie Claire, "Will JJ & Reid Finally Get Together In Criminal Minds Season 15?," 18 Sep. 2019 The solution is revealed in a small, seemingly throwaway scene featuring one of terrorist Hans Gruber’s henchmen, Uli, played by the great character actor Al Leong.
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Tim Carman, Washington Post, "The 10 greatest food scenes from holiday movies and what they really mean," 18 Dec. 2019 The solution is revealed in a small, seemingly throwaway scene featuring one of terrorist Hans Gruber’s henchmen, Uli, played by the great character actor Al Leong.
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Tim Carman, Washington Post, "The 10 greatest food scenes from holiday movies and what they really mean," 18 Dec. 2019 The solution is revealed in a small, seemingly throwaway scene featuring one of terrorist Hans Gruber’s henchmen, Uli, played by the great character actor Al Leong.
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Tim Carman, Houston Chronicle, "The 10 greatest food scenes from holiday movies and what they really mean," 24 Dec. 2019 Environmental groups have sought foam bans amid rising public awareness of throwaway plastic that accumulates in the oceans.
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USA TODAY, "Lego impeachment, emotional support coyote, mumbo sauce: News from around our 50 states," 21 Dec. 2019 His rug, designed to look like an IKEA receipt, makes the once-throwaway item one of permanence.
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Vogue, "Virgil Abloh's New Home Collection For Ikea Is Functional—And Funny," 1 Oct. 2019 Kristen Stewart sounds unleashed with every line reading, teasing the whole movie toward throwaway charm.
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Darren Franich, EW.com, "Charlie's Angels unleashes a riotous Kristen Stewart on movie that is try-hard trash: EW review," 12 Nov. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Take away the confusing plot and throwaway punchlines and the cast is by far the best part of the film — and the reason many will go see it.
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Elizabeth Montgomery, azcentral, "Guy Ritchie returns to signature style with lackluster gangster film 'The Gentlemen'," 23 Jan. 2020 Take away the confusing plot and throwaway punchlines and the cast is by far the best part of the film — and the reason many will go see it.
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Elizabeth Montgomery, Detroit Free Press, "‘The Gentlemen’ is a lackluster gangster film," 23 Jan. 2020 His last appearance was an eight-minute run out late in a 2-1 loss against Eintracht Frankfurt on Jan. 18 (that's not a throwaway or courtesy substitution given the circumstances of that match).
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Pat Brennan, Cincinnati.com, "FC Cincinnati GM: 'I have a good feeling' about Jurgen Locadia," 31 Jan. 2020 In coverage, Yiadom was targeted nine times (five catches for 60 yards) and blitzed unblocked to force a third-quarter Carr throwaway.
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Ryan O’halloran, The Denver Post, "Rating The Broncos: Defense overcomes train-wreck play to survive Raiders’ comeback," 30 Dec. 2019 Statistically, for Brady the season feels like what the four-time Super Bowl MVP has been forced to become a master of — a throwaway.
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BostonGlobe.com, "Balance of Patriots power shifts back to Bill Belichick, not Tom Brady - The Boston Globe," 27 Nov. 2019 After a timeout, Nix then completed another unlikely pass to Will Hastings, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere to haul in what appeared to be a throwaway for an 11-yard gain and another first down with 1:12 to go in the half.
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Tom Green | Tgreen@al.com, al, "Sal Cannella gets his ‘unbelievable’ Iron Bowl moment on senior day," 6 Dec. 2019 Carr, who had his seventh game this season with a passer rating above 100, missed on four attempts, one of which was a throwaway.
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Matt Kawahara, SFChronicle.com, "Raiders’ offense sees room to grow after latest win," 19 Nov. 2019 For all the talk of America having a throwaway culture that moves rapidly from one idea to the next, the history of political correctness does not support that vision.
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Tyler Cowen, Twin Cities, "Tyler Cowen: The successes and excesses of political correctness," 17 Oct. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'throwaway.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for throwaway
throwaway
adjectiveEnglish Language Learners Definition of throwaway
: made to be thrown away after use
: made or said with very little thought
: tending to throw things away instead of keeping them and using them again : very wasteful
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Time Traveler for throwaway
The first known use of throwaway was in the 14th century
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