To discard means to throw something away or get rid of it because you no longer need it or want it. When you discard old homework papers at the end of the school year, you're tossing them in the recycling bin. When a card player discards a card, they remove it from their hand and place it in a discard pile.

The word suggests a deliberate choice to remove something. You don't accidentally discard things: you decide they're no longer useful or valuable to you. A scientist might discard a failed hypothesis after experiments prove it wrong. A writer might discard a rough draft and start fresh.

Discard can also mean to abandon or reject an idea or plan. If your first strategy for winning a game isn't working, you might discard that approach and try something new. A detective might discard one theory about a mystery when new evidence points in a different direction.

The key difference between discarding and simply losing something is intention. When you discard something, you're making an active decision that it's time to let it go.

As a noun, a discard is something that has been thrown away or rejected, like a card in a discard pile.